Midnight Rose II
by First Commander Miari
Summary: Sequel to The Midnight Rose. Many years after Kurama's death, what will happen to his child? How will Katie carry on? Read and find out.
1. Keiryi

Love was such a distant thing for me all throughout my childhood. I knew what it was supposed to be, but my mother never quite showed me what it really was. How could I have grown up without knowing what love was? How could I be bereft of the thing that fueled the lives of most humans?

Maybe it was because my life so mirrored my mother's. Constantly, she searched for one who had been just like my father, a man who could come close to taking his place. However, all that faced her was constant disappointment. Even I wasn't good enough to replace him. In fact, I was almost too much of his likeness, a girl born looking almost exactly like her father. Some days, Mother looks at me and just bursts out crying, saying that he'll never come back. I don't know when he left, but when he did, he told her that they'd see each other again soon enough.

Needless to say, I didn't have the model family, but I still went to school, and enjoyed those few friends that I had. They all had an able mother and a loving father, perhaps a sibling or two. They talked lightly of having people to care for, but my mother was so distant and independent that I was barely allowed to care for her. No matter how many times I scolded them, my friends continued to mock my lack of humor, and my stiff demeanor. Truthfully, I'd never been much of a social butterfly.

The one thing I remember from my childhood is hearing how much I looked like my father. From the very start, I had a substantial tuft of vivid red hair, and when I sprang forth from my mother's womb, she told me how she had remarked at my brilliant green eyes, the ones that she had seen so passionately so long ago. As I grew older, I also grew quieter. Pulling at my mother's hair didn't amuse me anymore, so I walked outside and to the edge of town. Just beyond here was a lake where she had taken me many times, in celebration of the time she met my father.

Once at the lake, I would gaze into it so fixedly that no one was able to draw me away. Crying out my fears and troubles, it felt as though someone were actually listening. Musing upon such a thought, I decided that it couldn't be true. In all my life, a lake had never talked to me. Though I was only four or five years old, I was here, on the soil that resounded with my name. Mother had said something about this place being special for both of us, but I couldn't yet see why.

Many years passed, and I went to the same schools as my friends, loving every minute of it. However, there was one day when my friends were sick, and pretty soon I was helplessly cornered by two popular girls. The excessive makeup they wore always seemed so cheap, and I couldn't stand the way they had to be better than everyone else. Despite my harsh feelings, I had never worked up the gall to take action against them.

One with thick, black curls held back by a headband approached me. "What are you doing here?" she asked sarcastically. Intimidated by the way she got in my face, I found myself unable to answer. How could they do this to me? None of this had ever happened before; nobody had ever launched personal attacks against me. "I thought you belonged in the school with all the losers over there," she sniffed, pointing over to the building across the road. Nobody knew exactly what went on at that school, and frankly, no one wanted to find out.

When I still didn't answer, she shoved me down to the ground, laughing as I scrambled to get my books together. "Later," she spat, giving me a good, swift kick in the side. Once all my books were safely in my bag, I got up and headed off to my next class. For the first time, I had started to realize that people whom you thought were good and knew what was right could often be cruel. The sickest part was that they took pleasure in the pain of others.

The teacher saw my disheveled hair and clothes, and asked me after class what the matter was. Adjusting my ruffled blouse, I pulled on a jacket to protect me from the cold. "It was nothing," I said quietly.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" the teacher asked. "I can always take you to counseling."

"Yes," I said warily. "I'm absolutely certain." While fixing my uniform, I made sure to conceal the bruise that had blossomed on my left hip. Mother couldn't know, or she might have me moved to a different school. Though those two were there, I still didn't want to leave the school I had known for so long.

Despite the seemingly endless last period class, I eventually got out of school and started walking home, toting my lunch box in my hand. Now thirteen, I was allowed to get myself to and from school, whether by foot, by bus, or by metro train. However, even Mother Nature seemed to be against me that day. Rain began to pour down relentlessly, pounding at my back and soaking me to the skin.

Immediately, I ran for cover and hid. A tree seemed to be the best possible cover that I could manage, although it was still cold, so I took it. I watched the raindrops plop down onto the pavement and wondered at how fast they came...how such a small thing would want to come plummeting down to earth so quickly rather than drifting down pleasantly.

Unfortunately, my time to ponder was soon cut short. A very short man with a wiry, muscular build, became visible in the top of the tree. I turned around to get a better look at him, and he just stared at me. Understanding that he was probably shy just like me, I turned back to my gazing at the sky. It really was beautiful, and I soon forgot that he was even there. Thoughts floated up to the surface of my mind...thoughts that I had never thought about before. After a while, though, curiosity got the best of me, and I looked up to see that the man from before had fallen asleep in the tree.

Before I could do anything, his weight shifted, and he slipped down from his perch on the slender branch. Due to the lightness of his body, it made little more than a soft thud, but I ran over nonetheless. When I examined him more closely, I found that there were no broken bones, but as I felt his face, searching for new bumps and bruises, I felt his eyes slide open. "Get off of me," he barked, looking at me as if my touch was poison.

"You sleep like a rock," I commented in a rather dazed fashion. "No wonder your body's the same way."

He got up and brushed himself off, wrapping a black cloak back around him. Of course, I wanted to know why he was dressed so strangely, but then it occurred to me that I must look strange to him. "What's your name?" I asked. What a stupid question to ask such a gruff stranger. I wouldn't have been surprised had he killed me right then and there for being an idiot.

"Names mean nothing," he said flatly. "Anyone can lie about their name...there are other qualities that can identify someone."

"Fine," I said. "Why the sword?" It was only a minute or two ago that I had noticed the katana in its sheath around his waist.

"Isn't it obvious, baka?" he snarled, and turned to walk away. Strange enough, right before he was around the corner, he turned back and looked at me. Something about that crimson glare chilled me straight to the marrow. A shifting feeling arose within me, making me want to vomit, and on an impulse, I ran home.

Home really wasn't too far away, and I managed to get the key out and get into the bathroom before I puked up what I had eaten at lunch. However, when I looked up and turned around to face the mirror, I was entirely shocked. My face was changing from my mother's, to that of a mystical green-haired woman, to another woman's with blonde hair and deep blue eyes. The shifting wouldn't stop, and each time I changed forms, it made me feel sicker and sicker. How could something this drastic be happening to me? It wasn't my time to die yet, was it?

No time was left for me to contemplate the matter. The doorbell rang and, holding down my gorge, I rushed to answer it. There was my mother, her mouth agape as she stared at the myriad of people my face was shifting into. "Keiryi," she whispered, as if she had to convince herself that it was still me. Her arms wrapped around me, I felt a sudden warmth flood my body, and the lurching stopped. I no longer had to vomit.

That was the first time my mother helped me like that. Before then, she had been so far away, and I hadn't really blamed her for it. I wasn't the most responsive daughter. However, it felt good when she soothed whatever it was that triggered the shapeshifting. I hadn't vomited on the carpet, so there was no mess to clean up, and I went upstairs into my bedroom.

I had my only chance to figure out what happened then, because a few hours later, Hiro came in with his sister Mikara. Both the Kuwabara twins were a joy to have around, but I wasn't much in the mood to entertain guests at that time. Their dad had taught them how to laugh so early on that it seemed natural whenever I saw them from a distance. But when they were around me, I could sense a sort of uneasiness underneath the mirth. "Hey, Ri, how's it going!" shouted Hiro, giving me a high-five. Somehow, I thought he liked me as more than a friend, but he never showed any truly visible signs.

"Hi," I said quietly, brushing a lock of vivid red hair behind my ear. "How are you two?" Mikari smiled and looked at my pale face with concern displayed openly. After vomiting like I had, I still felt a little sick.

"Are you sure, Keiryi?" she asked, and toyed with her aqua-green hair. For a while I had thought she dyed it, and wanted mine to be that color, but then she had told me it was her natural coloring.

"I'm sure Mikari," I said, and looked into her eyes, telling her that I was really alright. That was when I noticed it. Mikari's eyes were the same crimson as the man from the tree's eyes.

"Ri? Ri-i..." Hiro's pale hand snapped me back to reality. He also looked like his mother, with the same coloring as his sister.

"Yeah?" I said, dazed. They were used to my drifting mind, and knew that it took a lot to keep me on track.

"You were spacing on us again," he reminded me, laughing and closing his eyes.

"I was just thinking," I snapped back quietly, closing my eyes and trying to focus. "I saw someone on the way home who looked a lot like Hiro."

"We don't have any living uncles," Mikari reminded me.

"He didn't have the same coloring as you," I said. "He was built just like Hiro though."

Hiro's height was a constant point of teasing. He had only risen to about five foot four at the age of twelve. Most other boys towered over him by now, and even Mikari was quite a bit taller than her brother. It was fun to poke at him about it once in a while, but we knew to try and leave it alone for a bit, too. Nobody likes to be teased all the time.

"So what happened, Ri?" he asked. Mikari looked at me intently, knowing that I had always had trouble telling people stories from my own life. They seemed so insignificant, but other people always liked to hear them.

"I was walking home from school," I began. "Before I could even turn onto a different street, though, it started to rain. In order to avoid getting my uniform all wet, I took cover under a tree. For a while, I just mused on the raindrops, but then I saw a man up in the tree."

"And that would be him, right?" asked Mikari, now getting excited herself.

"Exactly," I said. "He had crimson eyes, just like yours, but his hair was pitch-black. It was spiked in a gravity-defying way, but it was starting to droop a little from the moisture. Soon enough, he fell asleep."

Sighing and rolling his eyes, Hiro looked at me as if he had been expecting a more exciting end. "So what happens next?" Mikari asked, waving aside her brother's impatience. "C'mon, Ri, don't leave us hanging!"

"Well," I said, "after he fell asleep, he ended up slipping off of the branch he was perched on."

"Oh, come on!" Hiro shouted indignantly. "Everyone knows that the Kuwabaras are incredibly graceful! Falling out of trees...pshaw!"

"I went over to make sure he was okay," I continued. Sometimes you were better off ignoring Hiro's rants. Very rarely were they worth listening to. "However, he woke up and startled me when I saw those crimson eyes. I felt a lurching, and ran home. Immediately, I went to the bathroom and puked. When I looked up, I saw that I was changing my appearance at the speed of sound. Mother saw me when she came home from work, and she just hugged me."

Both Hiro and Mikari looked at me in shock, waiting to see what would happen now. "It healed me," I said, smiling at them both. "There was this feeling of warmth, and it stopped. I don't know exactly what she did, but otherwise I still would be sicking up in the toilet." Mikari looked a little uneasy as I finished out the story, and Hiro had an enigmatic look on his face. "What?" I asked innocently, watching my friends as they puzzled over what I had said.

"So that's it," Hiro said. "She wanted to name me something close to his name, but I never knew he was still alive. By the way Mom talks about him, I'd have thought he was dead." Mikari nodded in agreement and stared at me calmly, almost unnervingly.

"Hiei," she muttered. "He's an uncle on our mother's side. I wasn't supposed to tell you, because he's a little dangerous, and him and Dad don't get along very well, but he visits me and Mom every year."

"Where's he from?" I asked. "He was dressed rather oddly."

"I don't know," Mikari said. "Mom never even told me."

All of it confused me to the point where I wanted to scream. If he was Hiro and Mikari's uncle, why had he acted like he knew me back at the tree? Also, there had been a rueful look in his crimson eyes when I caught him looking back at me. Was there something I didn't know about with him, or was he just taking an interest in those involved with his niece and nephew? Whatever it was, I wanted to find out, if only I could figure out where to find him again.

Mikari had to snap me out of my trance this time, and she touched a hand to my shoulder. "Sorry," she said. "I've got to go see Mom. She wants me, so I'll see you later, Ri!"

"I'll catch up to you in a bit, Mika!" Hiro shouted after his sister, and turned to me with a broad smile on his face. Sitting down next to me on the bed, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders in a brotherly way. "Whatever it is you're looking for, I know you'll find it sometime," he said, and grinned comfortingly.

"How did you know I was looking for something?" I asked quizzically. "I never told you about-"

"I can see it in those green eyes," he said. "Whenever I see you, you've become more of a puzzle to me, a door that can't be unlocked with an ordinary key. You don't understand something, so you want to find the answers."

I stared at my friend, who was almost like a cousin. We weren't actually related at all, but we saw each other so often that we could have been anyway. Hiro and Mikari were my two best friends, and always would be. Sure, I had friends at school, but I knew that eventually they would move on and I would still be able to count on the infallible, determined Kuwabara twins. "Yeah," I said, finally gathering the nerve to respond to Hiro's miniature speech. "I guess you're right about that. I really don't like being left in the dark, and I never have."

"Well," Hiro said mirthfully, "You're so bright, I know you'll find the light in no time." He gave me shoulders a gentle squeeze and stood up to leave.

"Hiro," I whispered, grabbing his hand right before he turned to walk away. "Thank you." I could see his cheeks turn a deep shade of red, almost as deep as his crimson eyes.

"No problem!" he said, regaining his composure and flashing a peace sign. "Anytime." And then he was downstairs. Mother, Kazuma, and Yukina would be there. I was anxious to see them all, but I was scared of the conversation and where it might lead. It had been a while since I had actually talked to any of the Kuwabaras beside Hiro or Mikari. In truth, it had been an entire year.

**A/N-Miari's back, and quite soon if I do say so myself. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I actually have a few ideas as to where this is going. As for those of you who are returning Midnight Rose fans, Keiryi grew up SO much different from Kaiina. Kaiina-chan will come back, and I can't wait until I get to write from her point of view again! For those of you who read the first part, there are 2 main changes. They are as follows:**

**1.More characters**

**2.POV changes(I know you love getting to know one character so much, but for the sake of plot, I have to split up the POV's. Unfortunately, subplots won't allow me to stay with one point of view.)**

**Peace Out!**

**Miari**


	2. Truths and Trials

Slowly as I could, I made my way downstairs to the room where my mother was, with a young woman who looked just like an older Mikari, and a tall redheaded man with shoulder-length hair. Mother sat still on the couch with her usual gaze of indifference. All heads turned as I entered the room, and Mikari and Hiro exchanged looks that only they could decipher. Now that I had told them, they only had their mysterious uncle on their minds.

I loved looking at my mother and imagining what a second child in her image would look like. Her hair was long, almost past her waist, and had a soft, inky black hue to it. Her eyes were a deep blue, and I could see why my father had loved her so dearly, and why she was now so broken. They had been made for each other, but then the curtains had been drawn on their relationship. Though they wanted to be together, they were forced to spend years apart. Since I could remember, I had only had a mother, and my father had been a phantom figure that I decided I would probably never see.

"Hi, Keiryi," Kazuma called from the chair in the corner. He had grown up since he married Yukina, and now he had lived enough to know how to make his way successfully. Looking at them, Mother was more sullen than she ever had been. It must have hurt to look at such a happy couple and know that it could have been you. Sympathy welled up in my heart, but I didn't know how to express it, so I just sat down next to Hiro. Yukina smiled cordially and nodded, acknowledging my presence.

"Good afternoon, Kazuma-san, Yukina-san," I said, gesturing toward each of them and trying to play the part of gracious hostess. Kazuma chuckled slightly and ran a hand through his long hair, brushing some of it on top of his head.

"Never knew Keiryi would grow up so much like her dad," he commented.

"Sometimes I see so much of him in her, it's frightening," Yukina added, breaking her usual silence. As I was in a rather awkward position, I blushed and remained silent, unsure as to what to say. Did they just want to analyze me whenever I came in the room?

"So what brings you around here at this late an hour?" Mother asked, turning to Kazuma.

"We just wanted to say--" Yukina drew aside her husband and whispered something in his ear. Not wanting to withold the exciting news, he reassured her and looked to Mother.

"What is it?" she asked nervously, her hands clutching at the dark jeans she wore.

"Urameshi's back in town. Him and Kayko were going through some tough times, so if you wanted to drop by his place and cheer him up, here's the address." He handed my mother a paper and smiled. "I know you guys were close."

For a moment, Mother looked at the paper in horror, as if it were some thing from her nightmares. Her eyes were as wide as they would go, and her delicate mouth hung open, unable to form a response. "I never thought he would..." she said, and nodded her thanks at Kazuma.

"So you'll go?" he asked. "Me, Yukina, and the kids were going to go tomorrow, so if you want to come then, that'd be great. Keiryi can come along too." Hiro smiled to me and I knew that we would get to have fun during the visit, whether it was inside or outside the apartment building.

Hiro gave me a sidelong look that said to be prepared to cit loose for a little while. "Tell me if you see Hiei again," he said, and then Kazuma announced that it was time to go. Mother stared at the piece of paper as if soaking in the address and then cast it aside, siting down on the couch. "Sit down, Keiryi," she said, patting the cushion next to her. "We need to talk about what happened this afternoon."

Frightened as could be, I sat down and looked up at my mother. She was cold and distant once more, looking down at me, weighing my every action in front of her. There was no way to tell what she was going to say or do as there usually would be through her eyes. "What was it that you saw?" she asked. "What triggered your power?"

"I have 'power'?" I said quizzically.

"Yes," she said. "Haven't you ever noticed that you and the twins are different...special in a certain way?"

"Yeah," I said, shrugging. I just thought we had been freaks of the gene pool, made differently because of some disease our mothers had carried.

"I'm not fully human," Mother said, "and I never fully will be. I'm part wolf demon and part earth spirit. Your father was a fox demon, a very powerful one." It was now my turn to gape in awe of the news she had told me. How could I be some sort of demon? Weren't they supposed to be evil, not just normal creatures? Who was my father, that he had been so powerful?

"What was his name?" I asked. "Where did he come from?"

"His name was Kurama, and he came from Makai, the land of the demons, my mother replied. Her face remained so passive that I doubted she was still truly alive. This was how she always was, but it was more noticeable when she was like this. When she was talking about him the life drained out of her, as if part of her wanted to be dead, and able to touch and see him again.

"You could be any mix of the three," Mother continued. "From the looks of you, you should have inherited your father's traits, but you could have inherited things from anyone else. My mother could control the earth, and my father possessed great strength and agility. In me, both talents shone through. However, since both your father and I were so powerful, one or the other will come out in you. For now, we can only wait."

"What about the changes in my appearance?" I asked, looking up at her. Mother smiled down at me, trying to convince me that she wasn't depressed at all. Some light started to shine through the darkness in her eyes, but there was nothing else of power in her.

Twiddling my thumbs, I looked up at her, awaiting a response. "It's an innate ability that rests within all nature apparitions," she replied. "Shapeshifting is a very basic technique that most are aware of from birth. Since you were born in the human manner, you were not born into your demonic form. Eventually, you will be able to shift to your demonic form, and then your shape will change along with the level of your power."

"Why?" I asked. "Why did you come here instead of staying in Makai, where you fit in?"

"Because I loved your father that much," she said softly, stroking my cheek. Slowly, I found myself slipping into her embrace, falling into the depths of those emotions that I had yet to understand.

Why couldn't she have explained these things to me when I was younger, so that I could develop, so that I could feel as though there was some purpose to my life. Right now, there wasn't much that I did that felt as though it was doing anything. If there was any way I could find my father, any way I could unveil the mysteries that surrounded me, I wanted to do it. It didn't matter if I put my life in peril in the process, because it wasn't being used for much else at the moment.

"I think I get it now," I said quietly, hugging my mother back. Such moment of emotion were so rare that I cherished them with everything I had. Father's death had left her cold as stone, a statue trying to live the life of a living, breathing creature.

"Good," Mother whispered, and stroked my hair down. "You really are so much like him. The way you act, the way you look...the resemblance is uncanny. If only you could have known him for just a short while. He would have been a much better parent than I."

Listening to her words, I knew what she was getting at. "You're not inadequate," I said scoldingly. "You're my mother, and the only one I've ever known. That's good enough for me." Okay, so maybe it was a little white lie, but I wanted to make her feel better. Really, I did want to find my father, so I could see her being happy again, but there was no place I could think of to start looking.

"I know it is," Mother whispered in my ear. "That's why I'm lucky to have a daughter like you."

Little did she know of my restlessness, my troubles at school, my confused nature. At that time, I didn't yet know who I was. Who was this Keiryi that I was supposed to be? I knew that I was much different from my mother, but I didn't want to be alienated from her, so distant that we didn't even feel like we were related anymore.

For hours, we sat together in silence, until the morning broke. "I suppose we should get going if we're going to meet Kazuma at Yusuke's place," she said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "You'll like Yusuke; he was one of the people who helped raise you when you were little." I smiled wanly, wishing that I had been able to sleep that night. The two of us had been downstairs talking away the night, and now it was too late to go back to bed. With the weekend came a short reprieve from school, which meant more time to spend with Hiro and Mikari.

Mother got us both into the car, ready to head off to his apartment. It had been so long since last we saw anyone beside the Kuwabaras. Honestly, I looked forward to getting to see Hiro again. Even if Yusuke was a disappointment, then the twins and I could go outside and sit on the patio, or something along those lines.

We arrived and it was a modular apartment building, the kind that most people lived in in that area. Kazuma and Hiro were there, but Yukina and Mikari were nowhere to be found. "Hey, Ri, long time no see!" Hiro called, joking around as usual.

"Nice to see you too," I said a little dizzily. "Where's Mikari?"

"Her and Mom had a little family business to attend to." Kazuma was whispering something to Mother, but I couldn't quite make it out. The way Mother nodded told me that it was a grim matter, but I decided to leave it alone.

The apartment didn't look much different on the inside. There was some basic furniture, it was reasonably clean, and there were a few magazines and such on the coffee table. Hiro smiled and sat down on the couch, motioning for me to take the seat next to him. Eventually, Yusuke came through the door to the bedroom and smiled when he saw me and Hiro. "I see the kiddies grew up just fine," he said in a slick-talking voice. Though he seemed like a wannabe punk, something about Yusuke suggested that there was more to him than I could actually see. "Looks just like old fox-boy."

I quirked an eyebrow at such a mention of my father. How could he be that disrespectful to the dead? It was entirely unheard of, and though I had never met my father, I still felt it was my duty to defend him. "What did you just say?" I demanded flatly, glaring at him with my emerald gaze.

"Geez!" he shouted. "What was that for? Just made a little comment..."

"Ri..." Hiro whined, telling me to sit down and shut my mouth like the rest of the time. Still indignant at Yusuke's comment, I crossed my arms across my chest and sniffed.

"That's Keiryi," Mother continued as if nothing had happened. "The one sitting next to her is Hiro."

"Glad to see yours came out just as stubborn as her mom," he commented sarcastically. "So the big lug finally hooked up with Yukina?"

"We're married, thank you very much!" Kuwabara objected, and lunged forward at Yusuke. Smirking with delight, Yusuke put a hand out, and Kazuma's face stopped there.

"Just as weak as ever," he said, laughing and shaking his head. At this odd display, me and Hiro just watched, dumbstruck. Why were they all fighting and laughing about it?

Finally, my mother cleared things up and gave Yusuke a warning look. "So how are things with Kayko?" she asked. "Have you worked it out?"

"Oh yeah," he said. "We're going in to sign the divorce papers tomorrow. I just moved in here a week ago when she decided that she didn't want to be with me anymore." He waved it aside in a flippant gesture and for a moment, I thought I saw him looking at Mother in a rather curious way.

At this point, Hiro jabbed me in the side and we sneaked outside onto the porch. I sat on one end, legs drawn up to my chest, and he sat on the other end, one leg drawn up with his arm slung over that knee. "So what do you think of him?" Hiro asked me, gazing at me with his crimson eyes.

"He can go to Hell," I stated flatly. "He was talking badly about my father, and he looked at my mother in a way I didn't like." Hiro looked incredibly shocked that I would use such coarse language. Normally, I was very softspoked, but Yusuke and his brash behavior had made me forget my manners.

"He sure wasn't very respectful toward you," Hiro observed, looking at me. "I understand how he feels in a way, though."

"What do you mean?" I asked. Hiro gave me a look that said I should have known what was going to be said, but he sighed and continued anyway.

"Yusuke still wants to get with your mom," he said. "He's wanted to since they first met, and that was why he helped raise you. I guess he hoped that that would endear him to her."

I gasped loudly at the thought of anyone but my father being with my mother. I didn't know what my father looked like, but I could picture some man with her. Yusuke seemed like some of the boys at school who got into street fights and acted stupid. All of them had a perverse sense of humor, and it felt wrong that someone like that should get someone as intelligent and beautiful as my mother. "Doesn't he know that my mother won't accept anyone short of what my father was?" I exclaimed. "She told me herself that he was the only one she loved enough to marry or even get serious with!" Hiro leaned forward and put his hands on my shoulders, stopping me from leaping through the glass and tackling Yusuke.

"I thought you should know sometime or another," he said, looking into my eyes. I saw so much pain and so much pity in those crimson eyes, and I almost thought I saw a tear roll down Hiro's cheek. "I'm sorry if it hurt you. Some people...they say that what you don't know can't hurt you, but I've learned that it can...the hard way. Mom's sick, and we have no idea what it is. That's why Mikari's not here. She may be catching it, and they wanted us to go here, and-"

He broke out crying, and soon we were caught in a tight embrace with each other. I rested my chin on his shoulder as I cried for him, for Mikari, for Yukina, for Kazuma. As I shed those tears that I rarely let even close to my eyes, he ran a hand down my back, my shaking back, as he tried to comfort me. We were both so lost and had so much trouble realizing it. How could we have been so blind? There was no way we could have foreseen such an event, but we could have kept ourselves open. Instead of ignoring the pain, we could have braced ourselves against it.

Suddenly, I felt him fade back, hands on my shoulders once more. "Some people only look more beautiful after they cry, and you're another instance of that. Nothing you do can defeat his resiliant beauty. You've been gifted, Ri." I reached my hand up to wipe my tears away, but he got there first, and brushed them across my cheek. "I don't care if they say we're demons. In my eyes, you'll always be an angel."

I looked at him nervously, unsure whether or not I deserved the compliment. Me...an angel? I was a demon, a lost and confused soul made to live, die, and try to enjoy its life. Hiro had it worse than I did. He looked so different; he had to contend with his strange appearance from day to day. At least neither of my parents had that strangely colored hair. At least I didn't have to wear a mask to cover up the pain inside. "If you can laugh so much after enduring so much pain, then you are truly the angel here," I replied, brushing his hair away from his eyes.

"Don't kid yourself," he said, and grabbed my wrist gently. "I've wanted you for so long, but I know we have to wait. They say we're not old enough, that we don't know enough to keep ourselves from being hurt."

It was true in a way. Neither of us had a way to make money, and neither of us were legal adults yet, but that didn't mean we couldn't bend the rules a few more years down the road. "There's always our life ahead of us," I said. "Four years from now, we'll both be old enough that they can't restrict us. For now, let's keep it quiet."

"Alright," Hiro said, and wrapped his arms around me again, smiling as we got up and walked inside.

Mother looked at me with a smile and told me to go home with Hiro. And that confirmed it...my worst fears had come true.

**A/N: Sorry, but I have to end it there. The next part is my first POV change. First off, I want to be absolutely clear about this next part. Thanks to my sole reviewer so far...I'm so grateful for all the support you guys give me. You could just not review, but instead you choose to show your support for the things I do. Love you forever!**

**Ta!**

**Miari**


	3. Reconciliation

**Katie's Point of View:**

Keiryi gave me a look that said I had just betrayed her ultimate trust when I told her to go home with Kuwabara. Hiro had an odd look in his eye, and Yusuke looked eager to hear what had been going on for so long while he was gone. It had been ten long years since he left, and thirteen since Kurama died. Kuwabara had been happily married shortly afterward while I was left to mourn my only true love.

Unsure what to say to the man who had tried to take me away from the man I had loved, I sat there in complete silence, perched on the edge of the couch. Yusuke gazed at me longingly now that we were alone, but he straightened his features and sat down. What could he say? "Come and have sex with me"? I knew that was his ultimate objective, but it was a matter of me and my morals. I was going to resist temptation without any help, without anyone there.

Then there was Keiryi. If I somehow gave in and got pregnant by someone other than her unknown father, whom she worshipped, what would she think? Being a mother was so complicated, and I had never wanted such a responsibility. That was why Kurama had been there. He would have known what to do when Keiryi was troubled, how to handle my crises while keeping her happy. Instead, I had been forced to simply distance myself from her, to put as much space between us as possible so that I didn't have to deal with my fears.

"What do you want me to say?" I asked, flustered that he just let me have my silence instead of making some smart comment. "I never will be able to get over Kurama, and you just have to accept that. Yusuke, you can't keep striving to achieve something you can't have."

"I don't know," he said. "I wanted to talk about Keiryi."

"Why?"

"Because I feel like something's missing from the picture," he replied. "Why is she so tense? Whenever we met in the Plane of Luminescence, you told me that she was the most softspoken thing you had ever seen." He grimaced at the thought of what had happened that afternoon. "Instead, she gets here, and I can tell she's being cheeky because there's something conflicting inside her."

"Keiryi's still fumbling along," I said. "Before last night, she didn't even know her heritage." Yusuke quirked an eyebrow at me as if to say that this should have been a crucial part of her upbringing. "I thought that since she was living a normal life," I continued, "she didn't need to know anything that would make her appear suspicious. Also, I couldn't bear to recount stories of Kurama. It's too much."

"Then why won't you just let me help you, dammit!" Yusuke screamed, slamming his fists into the arms of the chair he sat in.

"I know your definition of help," I said acidly. "You want to be with me, to take Kurama's place just so you can feel better about Kayko in the process. Get out of my life and stick to screwing yourself over."

"Well, maybe if you'd just let me in, I could give you some advice!" he shouted, and stood up, brandishing a fist. "You're always so damn stubborn! Get over yourself, Katie! It's like everyone else has to be miserable just because you are!"

"That's only because you wanted to get with me when we were younger!" I retorted. "I see you still haven't grown up enough to realize what you can't have!"

"Shut up!" he screamed, and threw a fist at me. I dodged, but I could feel a strong gust whipping by my face. So he had had demon energy from the start! Cold as ice now that I realized he wanted to force me into the equivalent of rape, I thrust my hand forward, and white light intertwined with vines enveloped him. Screaming, Yusuke emanated energy, flashing like a siren in the night.

"Confront your own demons, not me," I said darkly, letting him go as he lay there on the floor, gasping for air. Even if he wasn't entirely human, he could still suffocate.

Slightly humbled, he looked me up and down and then took a step toward me. "So you're still the same Katie," he said, smirking. "You're strong, intelligent, and drop-dead gorgeous, but you can't just let me have my way."

"Afraid not," I spat. "Sorry, but I have a child to look after, unlike you. Grow up in a little while and I'll be able to fool around with whoever I want. Oh---that's right. Kurama will be back by then so you can keep your slimy hands off of me!"

"Amen to that!" he shouted, slapping me across the face. After all that, I recoiled reflexively from the impact. Falling back and letting my arms fall to my sides, I relaxed and stared at him, lost and hopeless, just as I knew Keiryi was.

"I know Keiryi's not turning out the best," I said, "but there's nothing I can do to help it. How can I stop her from developing into a clam? She keeps shutting me out, and only when we reach our breaking point are we able to reconcile with each other." I looked down and decided that Yusuke was an entirely different person now. He had gone through marriage and divorce, and now it was taking its toll on him. He was becoming little more than a bitter old man. "I'm sorry," I said quietly, choking on the tears that I wanted to hold back so badly. He couldn't see me cry now, not right after we had fought so ardently.

However, Yusuke offered me his hand and I took it. We just stood there holding hands, and I think our little spat convinced him that we weren't meant to be lovers...only friends. Despite his desires, and what he wanted, it wasn't meant to be, and that was that. "It's okay," he said in his slick-talking way. "I made this into way more than it should have been. I guess I was just frustrate about Kayko."

"Yeah," I said softly. "Keiryi just has me so worried lately that I don't know if she'll ever be the same again. I know she wants to find her father, especially since I told her that he might be out there somewhere. She's like her father, cool and calculating. She'll formulate a plan, but once she has it, she'll execute it fearlessly."

Yusuke looked at me with a smirk. "So it's the execution that you're worried about?" he asked.

"No," I replied, more worried than ever. "I'm worried that she doesn't know what danger she can get herself in. I told her she's meant to be very powerful, so she might think that she's already strong enough to make it on her own. She's only thirteen, Yusuke. I...I don't want to lose my daughter at such a young age."

"Hey Katie, it's okay," he said, and wrapped his arms around me. Though I was slightly taller than him, I craned my neck slightly downward and cried into his chest.

Even though I was vulnerable, he finally figured it out and didn't try to jump me just then. Both of us knew that doing something like that would ruin the intimate friendship we had going. Few could achieve that balance, and even fewer could become friends with those they could not love like they wanted to. "You really did deserve Kayko," I said to Yusuke. "Unfortunately, I can see how that big mouth of yours got her mad at you too."

"Speak for yourself," he joked. "When the little runt talked back to me, I could've sworn it was Mini-Mom yelling at me and not Keiryi." I smiled and laughed at him. Keiryi really was a lot like me, and I wanted to keep it like that.

"Just wanted you to know that I'll be here if you need some help with the kid," Yusuke said with a grin, and I smiled back.

"I'll call you if I need a baka to be a bad influence," I said sarcastically.

"Deal," Yusuke replied, holding out his hand. We shook on it, and then he made some tea for me(it was too late for coffee).

The radio was still on, and though the song was nothing special, it reminded me of the time when I went to Tina's bar, and I heard the song that brought me to hysterical tears. After hearing that song and confessing my troubles to Tina, I had been regenerated and enabled to continue my search for Kurama. Sadness sprouted in my heart when I thought of things from that time. To this day, I could still feel his touch, could still hear the voice that greeted me when I woke up.

Then there was the night when Keiryi was conceived, and we made love as furiously as we could, pouring everything we had into those hours. Yusuke would never be able to understand how we had loved each other so deeply. When I refused to separate from his touch at the cafe, Yusuke only made fun of us.

"I still love you," I said softly. "Make no mistake about it. I just love you in a different way."

"Katie," he whispered in my ear. "Just remember that I'll be here to catch you when you fall, if fox-boy doesn't beat me to it, that is." He winked at me and then we sat down to drink the tea. The cups he poured it into were delicate blue china, and I could tell by the way he looked at them that they reminded him of Kayko.

"So, did you and Kayko at least have fun while it lasted?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah," Yusuke said, "but then we started working and drifting farther and farther apart. We had sex a few times, and didn't have any kids. Honestly, we weren't mature enough to take care of a kid yet, anyway. Between the two of us, we had plenty of troubles."

I nodded sympathetically, realizing that he had loved her at first. Kayko was one of the reasons I had stopped Yusuke from even kissing me. She would have been heartbroken had she found out that the two of us had been messing around. She was a sweet girl, but perhaps too sweet for Yusuke's hard-core attitude and killer instincts. He was a wild beast who needed to be tamed, and Kayko couldn't put up with his temper all the time. "What happened right before she split up with you?" I asked.

"We were both getting home, and she started making supper. All of a sudden, Kayko starts crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she just exploded on me. It was like there was no possible way to reconcile us, and she just stormed out without packing anything. The night we broke up, she had this china out...we were going to celebrate our wedding anniversary." My jaw dropped open and stayed that way for several minutes. Finally, I regained my composure, shook my head in disbelief, and stared at him.

"That's a rough surprise," I said quietly, still getting over the shock a little bit.

"So was Kurama's sudden death."

Mention of those endless hours made me want to cry so badly that I choked on my tea. I remembered lying on top of him, trying to stopper the blood flow as his life slowly drained out of him. How could my love be dead so soon after we had found each other again? It seemed as though we had just gotten to know each other before he was taken away.

"Look," I said. "I have to go home and get some sleep." Hah. What a terrible lie. I didn't want to reminisce anymore. It just made me feel sadder than I already had. Before Yusuke could say or do anything to stop me, I opened a portal and stepped through into my bed. Not surprisingly, I feel asleep right as I lay down, and I dreamed that Kurama had returned. In my dreams, he watched over me as I slept peacefully, smiling and stroking my hair like he always used to do...

**Whew...just typed two chapters in a row. When my chapters get this long, it becomes rather difficult to type even one full one. For those of you returning fans, I considered doing a Plane of Luminescence scene, but figured that that could be saved for later, when mysteries begin to unfold. Also, I have a few answers for 4-is-lovely...**

**1)wait and see**

**2)wait and see**

**3)wait and see**

**4)Keiryi(KAY-ree)**

**Thx. to any people who happened to review chappie number 2, and Peace Out!**

**Miari**


	4. Harbingers of Trouble

**Keiryi's Point of View**

I came home with Hiro and Kazuma, but neither of them was very happy to be returning to the house. Hiro especially had a worried look on his face whenever he glanced sidelong at me. _What is it he wants to tell me?_ I wondered, but nobody was in the mood for talking. After our little episode on the porch, I really didn't want to talk about what Yusuke and my mother might be doing in there.

"Hey, Keiryi," Kazuma called from the driver's seat. Both me and Hiro were seated in the back seat of their small, but functional, car.

"Yeah?"

"You'll be staying in the same room as Hiro and Mikari, okay?" I thought that over, and then realized what that meant. I would feel so awkward being alone again with Hiro. Now I knew he liked me, perhaps more, and I didn't want to be backed into a corner. _I'm such a timid idiot,_ I thought to myself, allowing a slight chuckle as I mulled over my thoughts.

"Okay," I said, deciding that it would be better sleeping near Hiro and Mikari than sleeping alone.

The rest of the drive was short and silent. Hiro looked at me in an unnerving way the whole time, and I could see even more resemblance between him and Hiei. The way Hiei had glared at me then...if I wasn't so dazed, I would have run away then and there. His crimson eyes seemed to have the ability to peer into my soul. What else could they do if they could see what even I couldn't?

Just as I remembered, the Kuwabara house was homey and lived-in, a trait that I liked compared to our stark living space. A few possessions littered the floor, but it wasn't so bad as to be called chaos. If Yukina was sick though, chaos could soon take this harmless clutter's place. Quirking an eyebrow, I picked up an old take-out container. Usually, Mother would have yelled at me for it, but Hiro just gave me a look like I was crazy.

Upstairs, we found Mikari and Yukina. Yukina lay in bed with a warm cloth on her head. Her cheeks were pale and flushed, as if she had been severely sick for weeks now. "When did it start?" I asked Hiro in a whisper.

"Yesterday," he said, "after we got home. Kazuma knelt down by her bedside and felt her cheek. For a moment, I almost thought I caught a tear running down his cheek. No...it must have just been the lighting. Hiro had gotten his sense of humor and gaiety from his father, and there was no way that the constant source of joy in the twins' lives was...crying.

Mikari was only visible when I went around to the other side of the bed. She was curled up on the floor, asleep, though she was crying and shaking. Her shoulders heaved and Hiro sighed behind me. "She's been like this whenever she comes near Mom. I don't know what it is that happens...whenever I ask her she just says she doesn't remember."

"Maybe she doesn't want to," I offered distantly, gazing at Mikari's shrunken form. Though she had always been the quieter, understanding twin, I had never known her to break down like this. Never before had I seen Mikari really, truly crying.

"Hello," I said to Yukina, sitting down on the edge of the bed. She knew who I was, yet she looked at me and cocked her head, as if she needed to struggle to grasp my identity.

"You're...Kei...ryi..." I winced at the strain on her voice, but decided to keep on trying to offer her some comfort.

"That's right," I said soothingly, pressing the cloth down a little harder. "I'm Katie's daughter."

"She...she...brought this."

"What?" I exclaimed, shocked that my mother would wish anything like that on our family friend. "She made you sick?"

"No..." Yukina whispered, reaching out her hand to stroke my cheek. "Not...her...fault..."

"But you just said...?" I replied, confused as to how my mother could bring such a disease her without it being her fault. "How is it not her fault?"

"Let her rest," Hiro said to me, pulling me back slowly. "She can't use up all her energy to talk."

"Father..." That was the last word I heard Yukina whisper before I was quickly ushered out of the room. Whose father? Was she just hallucinating?

Once we were out, Hiro gave me a look and I decided it was best not to talk. He sounded so distressed, and I wanted to help him, but Mikari needed it just as much. We had covered her up and left her to cry over her mother.

"What did she mean?" I yelled once we were in the room I was to sleep in. "How can my mother bring about a disease like this without knowing it?"

"Relax," Hiro said, sitting across me and drinking a soda down. "I'm sure it was just a dream. Mom's said some weird stuff when she didn't know me and Mikari were around, and Dad never explains it when we ask. Just forget about it." I looked down at the Coke bottle that was sitting next to my bed. More nervous than ever, I popped it open and took a long swig.

The room was covered in posters of several favorite bands and pictures of the three of us. There was a room in my house that was just like this. It had about fifty pictures covering the wall. Before I had been able to examine the second person in the picture, Mother had told me to stay out of things that weren't my business.

One photo on the wall by Mikari's bed showed Mikari in a powder-blue kimono with a strange red ribbon tying her long hair back. In that picture, she was standing next to Yukina, and they could have been twins, except for the difference in height. My jaw dropped open and I realized it. They were so close, there must have been something deeper than the bond between a mother and a daughter. "What's wrong, Ri?" he asked. "I thought you'd seen that picture before."

He sat up to watch my watching the picture, and I smiled quietly. Out of nowhere, I could see the scene that always puzzled me when I awakened from my dreams...

_A figure made of the shadows leaped from tree to tree, dragging a small sack behind it. "Kuronue," a light male voice whispered, trying to keep from being heard by some adversary. "Go back to headquarters with the rest of our men and take the treasure with you."_

_"Of course, sir," a slightly deeper voice replied, and I saw a dark-haired creature emerge from those same shadows that had produced this handsome man with silver hair and amber eyes. He seemed to be nothing more than a whip-like warrior, one acquainted with the ways of war and nothing else._

_What happened next never failed to surprise me. The silver-haired man dashed toward a far-off building and leaped onto the roof. A silver fox tail streamed out behind him, and I enjoyed watching his snowy-white robes flutter in the wind. From his vantage point on the roof, he turned to the edge of a forest. _

_I saw a woman down there, one who possessed a certain wild beauty. She knelt beside the stream, dipping her hands in it to wash off blood...or some other substance. The man watched her, smiling euphorically as she stripped down and lowered herself into the river. Nothing impure showed in his eyes, just an admiration of her beauty as the moonlight shone off of her bare, wet body. She shone like a diamond, and I found it to be an awe-inspiring scene. "Amazing," I heard him whisper, and I echoed his comment._

_The girl turned around to see who was there, and a frown creased her forehead once she realized that that man was watching her bathe. Her dark brown hair was slicked down her back, and I saw her golden eyes shining with an unmatched fury. Somehow, I knew that she was familiar, but I didn't remember knowing anyone like that. She was so pretty, so pure, so...perfect. Suddenly, the scene swirled, and I was slipping back into reality all too quickly..._

"No!" I screamed, throwing out my arms. Hiro sat behind me, arms wrapped around my neck. His touch was simply fraternal, nothing suggestive.

"What happened?" he asked. "Were you daydreaming?"

"I guess so," I replied. "I...don't know what happened. I was watching these two people, and then I was shot back to reality. I didn't want to go back. Even though one was angry at the other, they were at peace with themselves. They knew who they were...and for a moment, I thought I was too." With a short laugh, Hiro crept around so that he was facing me directly.

"It's okay," he reassured me. "You'll find your place in the world eventually."

His words didn't seem as comforting as I thought they would. Who were those two people in the dream? The man was obviously in love with that girl, but she didn't love him like he did her and...I fell backward as I looked up to face Hiro. His crimson eyes gazed at me intently, and he stared at my smooth, bared stomach. "Stop it," I said. "All that will do is get us in trouble."

"Sorry," he said. "You're prettier than you know. Sometimes it's hard not to look."

Embarassed, I pulled my dark green t-shirt down and sat up. Hiro laughed at my embarrassment and I just turned a brighter shade of red. "Shut up," I said quickly and irritably, glaring at him. Hiro being Hiro, he smirked, taking it all as one big joke. He could be such a cocky little brat, but I didn't care as much as I should have.

Just as we were staring at each other, Mikari walked into the room. "Hi," she said in a barely audible whisper. "How are you doing, Keiryi?"

"Good," I replied, and turned to Hiro.

"How 'bout you?" Hiro asked his sister, observing the bags under her eyes.

"I stayed up all last night, and she's just getting worse. It's so slow, though, that this could take a very long time, maybe even years." I gasped at this news. Yukina already looked terrible, so how much pain would she have to go through before she finally died?

"Did she say anything else after I left?" I asked. If anyone would have known, it would have been Mikari. That bond between her and her mother had become so much more apparent after seeing the picture. Noticing that my eyes had drifted to that photograph once more, I quickly averted them and gazed at Mikari for a while.

"Not really," she replied. "She told me to stop worrying and go enjoy myself with you two but..."

Mikari just broke down and cried...hard. It was late, the Kuwabara family was going through a crisis, and I was caught in the crossfire. If I hadn't seen Yukina, I wouldn't be so curious now as to what had caused the disease. Now I knew that someone had poisoned her in some way. I moved in closer and wrapped an arm around Mikari's shoulders, smiling at her happily. "It's okay," I said. "Me and Hiro...we're here for you."

"Thanks, Ri," she said, using her brother's nickname for me. It made me blush a little, but I didn't mind it too much.

"I have a telepathic bond with Mom," she said, looking at me. "If she dies, I don't know what'll fill that void. The way she's going, I almost wish her death would come quicker. Whether I want it or not, I can always feel her pain pounding away. Something's tearing her apart from the inside, and she can't tell what it is. All I know is that it's one of the most dangerous things she's ever faced." I breathed slowly, with long breaks in between. Mikari looked so frail that I guessed she hadn't been eating for the past few days. Had she known this was coming before it actually happened?

Hiro had just looked down and ignored the conversation, but now he looked up at his sister. She started back toward me as he met her gaze with his. "So much for 'let's be good twins and share everything'!" he shouted. "Why'd you keep all those secrets? Can't you just tell me these things? I never knew much about Hiei, but you've gotten to visit him. I never knew about this telepathic bond. Anything else you'd care to share with me!"

"No," Mikari replied curtly, also growing angry just because her brother was mad at her. "Why do you have to be so nosy! Just because we're twins doesn't mean I can't have my own life!"

She glared at him one last time and stormed downstairs, most likely to sleep on the couch. Hiro flopped down on his bed and turned over, not in the mood to converse with me. That left me, and I opened up the window, feeling the breeze wash against my face. It beckoned to me so strongly, and it felt so much better than the weight of tears and outrage in this room.

When I took my first step out onto the roof, I felt freedom envelop me in all its glory. Was there anything but this wonderful feeling? For a moment, I couldn't remember a time when I hadn't been in this utopia. I spun around, celebrating my liberation, but my foot slipped, and I felt myself stumbling backward until I was on the edge, teetering on one foot.

Suddenly, I lost my footing and felt my whole world swirling around me, spinning until I had to shut my eyes. Before I fell, though, a small hand grasped mine. My eyes shot open, and I saw a lean, wiry arm leading up to that gravity-defying black hair and those unusual crimson eyes. "Hiei," I whispered. "Why'd you save me?"

"Promises aren't made to be broken," he answered curtly.

"So you made a promise to protect me?" I asked curiously, looking down at him with a smile.

"Hn."

Okay, so he wasn't the talkative type. I was still immensely interested in who he really was, and how come Hiro and Mikari had never been meant to know that he was their uncle. "So on whose side are you their uncle?" I asked innocently.

"Who?" he asked, glaring at me. His crimson eyes wanted to bore a hole into mine, but I knew that he wasn't allowed to hurt me, so I would be able to ask as many questions as I wanted to.

"If you made a promise like that, did you know my father?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. " Someone's going to try to take you eventually. I can take you with me to train. You're in no condition to fight right now."

"Why?" I asked. "How do you know?"

"We don't know," he said. "Spirit World intelligence told me that they're going to try and kidnap you. There's a family feud going on that's going to encompass all three worlds."

I took a moment to ponder that. So there were three worlds: Demon World, Spirit World, and Human World. Why couldn't these people just stick to their own realms? Here in Human World, I had so many people I would have to help to defend. Hiro and Mikari definitely couldn't be left to themselves in this state, and Mother seemed as if she couldn't really fight. What would I do with this power? I didn't even know where to begin looking for this hidden enemy.

"I'll see you in a week," Hiei said flatly. "Like it or not, you're coming." Before I could argue, the messenger was gone, and I couldn't even watch him leave. Hiei seemed so insecure up close, when he wasn't scrambling. The first time I had met him, I had thought that he was cold and emotionless, but after having an opportunity to study those eyes more closely, I noticed that he also had his fears.

Hiro came outside to check on me, and I sighed, not wanting anyone to interrupt me like that. "I heard you scream," he said, worry obvious in his crimson eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," I said quietly. "I'll be fine. I just need some time to think." Hiro understood that I wanted time alone and walked into the house again.

I sat down on the roof, pulling my legs up to my chest and wondering what would happen once I was taken away by Hiei. Eventually, my thoughts carried me into sleep...

**A/N- And that ends chapter four. I liked this chapter, but it was kind of sad. If only something about my preconceived plot would allow me to make Kazuma sick instead of Yukina. Oh well...Hiro and Keiryi are just friends for the time being guys. I know he says some things, but they're not legitimate bf/gf. Also, as far as the POV changes go, if there is no indication as to what the POV is, it's the same as it was last chapter. Thanks to Yuki and 4-is-lovely, my two returning reviewers, and I'm glad to see that I have another reviewer to add on. Happy to call you guys my friends!**

**Miari**


	5. Farewell

_I wandered through an unknown forest, feeling my way around as if I was just a small child again. Birds flew about, looking down at me and emitting high, shrill sounds that came across as little more than mocking. Hiei had told me that I was going to be taken by something, and I wanted to at least know what this something was, so that I would see it coming._

_Unfortunately, the forest seemed to be made only to confuse travelers and guide me in the wrong direction. Something inside told me to keep on going when I almost stopped, and I refused to listen to it. A stream a little way off of the beaten path beckoned to me just as the roof had. Was I caught in destiny's threads that tightly already? It didn't matter, because my parched throat said otherwise._

_Though I sat down at the stream, drinking at it wasn't enough. I didn't want to strip down for fear of the dream I had had, but instead I plunged my head underneath the water. A chill wetness washed over my face, but it left me unsatisfied. Then I dipped my arms under along with my head. It felt better this time, but I still was left unsatiated. Rage swept over me, and I slammed a fist into the ground. If I stripped and jumped into the stream, I knew someone would be watching. If this dream was so realistic, the vision I had of the silver-haired man must have been just as real._

_However, I couldn't get the thought of how that stream would feel out of my mind. I relented and pulled off the long, gauzy gown that I had been wearing. Once it fell off, I was stark naked for any wandering eyes to see. It didn't matter, though. As I lowered myself into the water, I felt my red hair float up and surround me, and the water washed away all my troubles. For hours I lay there, running my hands through my hair and then just relaxing._

_Suddenly, I felt someone else running their fingers through my hair. I started and stood up. Shadows his the somewhat short, crimson-eyes figure. "Hiei?" I called weakly. "What are you doing here?" Maybe he was under someone else's control. Maybe I was really hallucinating. I forgot trying to cover myself up and stood, backing away slowly. A hand reached out to touch the spot at the base of my neck, and I gasped as the touch felt cold as ice. _

_"Get away!" I screamed, but whoever it was wrapped me in an embrace and I couldn't get loose. Was it the silver-haired man? No. His eyes were an unforgettable shade of amber. I would have known if it was him. "Who are you?" Unfamiliar hands stroked my hair, and soon, I was caught in a kiss that I didn't want, one that was never meant to be. Consciousness left me as I pushed him away, running as fast as I could._

I awakened to look at a pair of crimson eyes. "Ri?" a familiar voice called. Hiro. Right. Reaching for my clothes, I realized that I was still wearing them and I was still outside...on the roof. "Ri, are you okay?" He grabbed my shoulders and shook me, snapping me out of my stupor. At his touch though, I shrank back against the side of the building.

"Stay away," I quavered, remembering my all-too-vivid encounter in the dream. Crimson eyes, an unwelcome kiss, and an unwelcome child.

"What is it, Ri?" Hiro asked me, reaching forward to offer me some comfort. Unlatching the door, I fell backward into it and tumbled until I was on my back.

Hiro squatted above me, gazing down at my terrified face. "Ri," he said persuasively, grabbing my hand. "I'm not going to hurt you." His words only made me shriek louder, and I fell back against his closet. Physical contact was very unwelcome at that point. I tucked in my stomach, threw my shoulders back, spread out my legs, pressed my arms and neck flat against the wall.

"Go away!" I screamed. "Get out of my head!"

Now it was clearer. Hiro gazed at me intently and backed away a little. Relaxing my body, I dared to take a couple quick breaths. What if he tried to take me now? What if I was too weak to fight back when he tried? "Don't," I gasped, my eyes wide. "Don't. Do. It." Terror possessed my mind, a terror of what would happen if I let him take me over like this.

"Whatever it is, I won't do it," Hiro whispered in a gentle tone.

No matter what he said to convince me that he wasn't going to rape me like the man in the dream, I backed away even further, frightened of what would happen if I let him gain any ground. Finally, my tired body didn't want to move anymore. It didn't make any difference whether or not I protested. I had to give in. Hiro wrapped his arms around me and I felt as if I was back in the dream, and next he was going to kiss me.

It didn't happen, though. He held me in his arms, smoothing back my hair and whispering words of comfort in my ear. His small, wiry arms felt so good around my waist that I leaned into him. Tears flowed for no reason as we rocked back and forth. The dream had left me so terrified, as nothing like that had happened to me before. "I don't know what happened to me," I said quietly as he soothed my fears. "I just...I was so scared, and..." Hiro pressed a finger to my lips and then smiled once I actually shut up.

"I don't mind," he replied lightly. "I know you didn't mean to." With a smile, I accepted his explanation and then sat down on the bed. We ended up lying down next to each other. Slowly, Hiro wrapped one arm around my shoulders and we lay there as friends, there for each other through anything that could come our way.

From afar, I could hear footsteps, but I dismissed them as Kazuma tramping around the house, doing housework and such. However, in retrospect I always wished I hadn't dismissed them. The door swung open, and Mikari stepped through.

One glance at the two of us on the bed was all it took. At first, she was just shocked, but eventually her misconceptions settled in and she fled from the room. Further down the hall, I could hear enraged screams and Kazuma's attempts to calm her down. Both Hiro and I sat up and there we were, smiling at each other. In the last couple of days, it seemed as though we had grown up a lot, but in the end we were just petty children, wishing for things that we couldn't have. I couldn't be this close to Hiro and equally close to Mikari. Hiro couldn't be in love with me when we were this young. Mikari couldn't save her mother from that inevitable death. Nothing could ever be right in the world without a price.

"No," I whispered under my breath, wishing it had never happened. "I can't be doing this! Mikari...she's already broken enough. What if we push her off the edge?" Hiro nodded and backed away. Maybe, if we pushed her far enough, Mikari would end up committing suicide. I didn't want to see what would happen when she reached her limits and couldn't take it anymore. Hiro didn't know what he was doing to me...forcing to choose between best friends.

"What was it that happened?" Hiro asked. "What made you flip out like that?" For a moment, I just stared at the ground, unwilling to answer his question. The steadiness of his crimson eyes made me answer, though. I just couldn't defy that patient gaze.

"It was a bad dream," I said in a hushed whisper. "It...was nothing." Thinking of that man with the crimson eyes, I shivered abruptly.

Then I remembered Hiei and what he had told me. I didn't have long at all before he would come and take me. 'Like it or not,' he had said to me, and I had never been under the illusion that I had much choice in the matter anyway. "Hiro," I began. He looked up and quirked an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue at my own pace. "Hiro," I repeated, "I needed to tell you something. Honestly, if I hadn't been so preoccupied with that dream, I would have told you sooner but..." I was allowed some time to breathe and gather my thoughts before I decided to just come out with it already.

"I have to leave," I finished, and then I watched as Hiro's eyes widened.

"Why?" he asked, an obvious question. I would have asked the same thing had he told me he had to leave.

"Because something's after me, and I'm not ready to fight it yet."

"I'll protect you," Hiro volunteered. "I'll stop them from hurting you!"

"No," I said, placing a hand on his. "I have to go train with Hiei for a while...you're not ready yet to use your powers. You can protect me from this threat about as well as I can protect myself."

Hiro stood up and looked down at me. "When are you leaving?" he asked quietly, his head hanging forward so that his bangs shadowed his eyes. I couldn't have foreseen that the news of my departure would hurt him this much, and I didn't want to...I really didn't.

"In about five days now," I replied, and smiled up at him, trying to resurrect some light of hope. "Look, I have to come back to fight whatever it is, so it's not like I'm leaving for good."

Even though he nodded and let me pack up to go home, I knew that Hiro was having trouble dealing with this fact. "I'm sorry," I said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'll try and contact you soon enough, if Hiei will let me. Please, live on without me for a while, enjoy life. It's what your mother will want you to do."

"Alright," he sighed, "but promise me that you'll contact this world or wherever we are as soon as you possibly can."

"Got it," I said with a smile, giving him a thumbs up.

Kazuma drove me home, but Hiro didn't want to come. So, I was sitting in the front seat, staring into space. The silence almost drove me mad as I sat there and wished for something to do. Finally, I decided that talking was the only thing left, though Kazuma hadn't been much in the mood for it lately. "I'm sorry," I began quietly, "...about Yukina that is. My mother always tells me stories of how in love you were. It's sad to see her in this sort of condition."

"It was sudden," Kazuma recalled effortlessly. "We were sitting on the couch, and then...she said she felt faint and I told her to get in bed."

I closed my eyes for a minute as he told the story. How could he bear to recount the tale of a lost loved one so easily? Didn't it hurt him? I began to wonder if Yukina was strong enough to fight this disease that had overtaken her. Whenever I saw her, she seemed incredibly timid, and I doubted she ever hid anything from me or her family. "I just hope there's a cure," I said quietly, looking down at the floor. Honestly, I didn't know what else to say.

The car seemed to go painfully slow after we stopped talking. The scenery of the city was so droll that it made me want to sleep, but my mind was too full for that right now. Was there a cure out there, and if there was, where would it be? Nobody would just hand it over. Also, there was the matter of Yukina's comment to me. She had said my mother brought it here. Yet it wasn't my mother's fault, apparently. There was no one to take the blame, though I sorely wanted to lay it on someone.

After a while, Kazuma started to look absently out the window, forgetting that I was there. He drove ahead without running into anything, but even with his head turned, I could tell that his face was filled with sadness and confusion. Something in the air told me, and I could smell the salt of tears. I fought hard not to cry, and eventually got lost inside my own thoughts.

I could see those crimson eyes. The figure could have been Hiei or Hiro, but both were much shorter than this man had been. Horror filled me to the brim when I recalled this memory, and then I could remember the ferocious girl with the golden eyes, furious that a man had caught her bathing in the moonlight. When the man in my dream came upon me, I had been scared, but she was able to defy him without flinching.

Hiro's saddened face stuck out in my mind, and I could see him lying on the bed, waiting for me to come home. He was older, and had grown quite a bit. His hair went down past his shoulders, and his eyes were hardened after the years of loneliness. No matter how deep I dug, I couldn't find an image of Mikari. Was she lost to me now that she was mad at Hiro? Would my deep friendship with Hiro not allow myself and his sister to be friends?

The last thing I could remember was a soft song, sung in a silken voice that lilted carefully with the flow of the words. I couldn't identify the singer, but I could have sworn I knew her. Was she the one who would show me Yukina's cure?

_The shadow of the moonlight,_

_Haunts me in the dark._

_Crimson rain and eternal blight_

_Haunt my accursed heart._

_My head's lonely memories_

_Haunt my heart and soul._

_The Wolven and the Earthen_

_Bore me to this world._

_He was the greatest king_

_This place has ever known._

_She lived in the grove of flowers_

_Where seeds of hate are sown._

_They met in the dead of night,_

_And he took her twice before_

_The word of his impurity _

_Could spread in local lore._

_There is a plight_

_Comes swiftly now. _

_It runs on the winds of time_

_Lo, ye must halt it now._

_His majesty is wroth_

_With the one he bore back then._

_He comes to seek his vengeance,_

_Though I don't know when._

I gasped and lunged forward, short of breath. Who was she that her words held such power? Their timbre sent shivers down my spine, and the power with which she sang made it seem like so much more than a song. "What was that?" I whispered to myself, and Kazuma pulled into the driveway.

"I don't know," Kazuma said. "Did you hear something."

"No," I said, still short of breath. I got out of the car and he drove away, leaving me alone until I walked through that door.

As I walked up to the door, the song echoed continually through my head...

**A/N: Oh yeah! After many nights, I took aside my precious time to finally finish this chapter! I had a half-day in school, and we all got to listen to Soapy getting picked on. Ah, the soothing hilarity of Latin class. Hope you like this chappie. I'm really using my self-restraint here to keep on track with my pacing. Thus, there are at least two mysteries where you're probably going, "WHY WON'T SHE TELL ME!" 'Fraid you'll have to wait and see. I don't quite know what I'm going to do for the next chappie just yet.**

**The song is copyright to First Commander Miari, and if you wish to use it, you must e-mail me prior to said song's use.**

**I make an awesome lawyer...**

**Miari**


	6. Ghosts of the Past

**Katie's Point of View**

I sat on the couch in our living room, contemplating what had happened with Yusuke last night. Reminiscence was never a happy activity for me, but I had needed to confront him and tell him that I was no longer an item. He couldn't just pout like a small child and think that I would change my mind and marry him. Besides, he was on the rebound from a recent divorce. Most likely, he was just feeling insecure and wanted someone who could make him feel better than his disfunctional self really was.

In the background, the TV was on, so that I didn't feel so alone. Whenever Keiryi was gone, I became aware of how little I really had. Kurama was gone, and for all I knew, Keiryi could be by tomorrow. I shouldn't have left her at Kuwabara's house. They were going through enough problems, and he didn't need to share in mine by letting her sleep over. I just didn't want to show Keiryi what he could really be like.

Birds chirped outside, calling me to take a break from cooking breakfast. The smell of burning sausages almost convinced me too. However, I needed to do this for Keiryi. I hadn't been much of a mother while she was growing up, and I was always just wishing that I had Kurama back. Keiryi was only a young teenager, and she was already jaded from being ignored too often. Even Hiro and Mikari couldn't make her feel accepted.

The doorbell rang, and I dropped one of the pancakes on the floor in the process of flipping it. Unsure of who it could be, I smoothed out my hair, which was pulled back into a messy bun. There was no other way to make it obey my whims.

"Hello?" I said, opening the door. "Come- Keiryi!" She looked more tired than I had ever seen her. When I hugged her to welcome her home, I could feel a significant decrease in her energy.

"You told me to take her home in the morning," Kuwabara reminded me. "If you weren't expecting us this early, you should have called." I blushed a deep red after remembering that I had actually told him to drop her off as early as possible.

"Hello, Mother," Keiryi said softly, looking up at me and my disheveled face. Cooking never had been and never would be my forte. "What's that smell?"

Letting out a small shriek of dismay, I ran into the kitchen to find that none of the food had been left in edible form. The sausages were blackened all the way around, and the eggs were baked so dry as to be mistaken for yellow plastic. Remnants of what had been pancakes sat on the pan, even more pathetic than they had been in the first place. They were falling apart, and I could see that the pieces were blackened also. Ever so slowly, I walked back out to Kuwabara and Keiryi. "Would you like to go out for breakfast?" I asked.

"Sure," Keiryi said softly, smiling at me.

Kuwabara left quite quickly, and I guessed that Yukina's situation had to be pretty bad. As Keiryi and I piled into the car, I thought of how stupid I had been to think that I would be able to cook for my daughter. Unlike other mothers, I hadn't been raised learning to cook, and that was the first time I had tried anything big. Sadly, I had conceded and decided to take her out to breakfast instead.

"What can I get you two?" the waitress asked. She was tall but slight, with vibrant blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. If she wasn't working here, she could have been a supermodel in Tokyo, or maybe New York or Milan.

"I'll have the sausage and eggs," Keiryi said quickly, setting down her menu on the table.

"Get me some pancakes," I said sullenly.

As she picked up the menus, the waitress studied me carefully. I had kept my hair up in that ridiculous bun for the sake of convenience, and I still wore sweat pants and a t-shirt. "Do I know you from somewhere?" she asked. "I could have sworn I'd seen you before."

"Jakiri?" I said quietly. "I didn't think you'd be working here."

"Yes!" she replied spiritedly. "You don't know how long I've been waiting for you, Katie!"

"I had to go away for a while after he died," I replied, and cast down my eyes.

Jakiri saw that I didn't want to talk about it and hurried off to put in my order. "Who was that?" Keiryi asked me innocently. That's right. She had only been born the last time I saw Jakiri. My life-long friend and servant had been there at the christening, and she was my child's legal godmother. If anything ever happened to me, I knew I could trust Jakiri with Keiryi.

"She's an old friend of mine," I replied slowly, making sure that I didn't mention the fact that she had been my most trusted servant. Having been born in Ningenkai, the schools had taught her that only tyrants and cult leaders had slaves these days. Besides, Jakiri was a very close friend, and she had often had to bring me down a few levels. "Her name's Jakiri," I finished. "She's your legal godmother...the one who left right after the christening."

Keiryi had never been told the real story. I had come back to have my child christened amongst friends, but the memory hadn't done me well. When I looked at Yusuke, he reminded me of the time when he had kissed me against my will. Kuwabara made me think of the times when I had hung out with Yusuke and himself in the cafe. Kurama had let me sit in his lap, resting my head against his chest. All in good humor, Yusuke had accused me of being obnoxious, and I, of course, being young, had not been able to keep my mouth shut. Jakiri reminded me of the time when I had first met Kurama, and the time that I had spent waiting to find him.

Since I wasn't yet strong enough to face my countless memories of Kurama, I had left for a few years. Once I sorted myself out, I took Keiryi back to the neighborhood where we had first lived in Ningenkai and we settled there. Kuwabara offered a hand whenever I needed it, and it seemed like me, Yukina, and Kuwabara were parents to all three of our children. Hiro and Mikari called me "Auntie Katie" when they were little, and then they started to figure out that I looked nothing like either parent. Therefore, I couldn't be a blood relative, unless I was only distantly related.

All three children grew, and I started to sink deeper into the past, until I found myself allowing Keiryi more independence than other parents would have, so that I had more time to myself. Really, it was a horrible job of parenting, but Kuwabara and Yukina understood what was going on, and they came over quite often so that the children could play together and Keiryi could escape from my world. In retrospect, I was so self-centered while raising Keiryi. Now that I had finally realized that Keiryi needed me to be there, I knew that I had been wrong for an unbearably long time.

A few minutes later, Jakiri came back with our breakfast, and I sighed. This place was small and homely, just like the place where I had been before me and Kurama got involved with the fight against Lirra. Even as I sat there, I could feel his blood streaming through my fingers, his last moments of life that I was lucky enough to share. Less than an hour before then, he had proposed to me in hopes that we would come out of it all alive.

"Thanks, Jakiri," I said quietly. "At least the woman here can cook." Jakiri noticed the disappointed look I had when I looked down at the pancakes, and put a hand on my shoulder.

"It's alright Katie," she said. "If it weren't for Terry, I wouldn't be eating as well as I am." My eyes shot open wide, and Jakiri laughed flippantly at my expression.

"Who's Terry?" I asked.

"My fiance," she replied casually. "We've been together for almost a year now."

"Oh," I said.

Keiryi remained silent the whole time, observing Jakiri. Finally, Jakiri turned her attention to my child, smiling genuinely. "So you're Keiryi," she said, offering her hand. "I'm Jakiri, an old friend of your mother's."

"Nice to meet you," Keiryi said uncertainly, shaking the hand offered her. The two looked at each other for a while, and then Jakiri turned her eyes away. Why couldn't Jakiri look into those eyes? My mind swirled with questions, but the biggest one was, "Jakiri has a fiance?"

I was rarely able to look my own daughter in the eye, because her emerald gaze reminded me so much of her father. To top it off, she had been born with his fiery red hair, also. "Would you like to come over to my house?" Jakiri asked me, bringing me crashing back to reality.

"Alright," I said. "Where is it?"

"It's a downtown apartment," she said happily, smiling that I could come over. "Right across from the elementary school."

Regathering my thoughts, I couldn't remember how we had gotten around to this. Keiryi simply went with the flow, but I was constantly being buffeted by the waves. Why couldn't I ever get the long end of the stick? It always had to be sadness and disappointment for me and happy endings for everyone else. Here I was in sweatpants and a makeshift bun while my servant was about to be married. That should have been me getting married.

"How about right after I get off?" Jakiri asked, propping her tray up on my shoulder. "You two can enjoy your breakfast, and we can go to my place after I get off in about a half-hour." I smiled and nodded, and Jakiri walked off to bus the next table.

"Mother?" Keiryi piped up, sounding more timid than usual. "I wanted to tell you something..."

"Out with it," I said softly. "Don't keep me waiting, now."

"When I was at Kuwabara's house, a man named Hiei visited me. He said he knew Father."

"I know him," I said quietly. Oh, God. Hiei was a shadowy character, and I was glad he hadn't killed her. What would he have to do with Keiryi, though?

"He told me something is going to try and take me," she continued. "So...I have to leave about a week from yesterday."

"It's alright," I said, seeing the tears that rimmed her eyes. "Hiei may be a little rough around the edges, but you'll be in good hands. He's a strong fighter, with a good head on his shoulders."

"He's going to train me," Keiryi said. "He wants me to be able to use my powers to fight off this thing that's coming." I gasped quite audibly. Already I had lost the love of my life...what if I lost Keiryi too? However, it was best that she be able to defend herself, and it sounded like Hiei wasn't about to let her die.

"You can go," I said, realizing that she had wanted my consent so that she would feel that she should actually go. "Go ahead and be the best you can be."

For a while, we went back to the apartment and talked. Terry was still at work, so we didn't get to meet him just yet. After a few hours, we left and it was late at night. Exhausted, I went upstairs and willed myself to sleep, letting Keiryi get herself to bed. I needed to go to the one place where I could speak to him now...

_On a distant hill sat a beautiful cathedral that I remembered as my haven. It was also the place where I had caught the first sight of the woman who was to kill my love, mocking our bond spitefully as her weapon drew his life-blood slowly out of him. Now it was the place where his funeral had occurred, though, and I had spoken up on that podium. Sad once more, I began to trudge up the hill, hoping that he was still there, waiting for me. Nobody else would be there like he had, not even Keiryi, and I would be heartbroken if my only attempt to see him was in vain._

_Nevertheless, he was there in the front of the cathedral, kneeling before the casket that now lay at the front. Roses were scattered all over the floor, and he held one in his hand, ready to brandish it in a stunning whip. "It's me," I called timidly, "Kaiina." Smiling in his pleasant surprise, Kurama ran forward to meet me and swept me up in his arms. Kissing me deeply, he set me down and gently lifted my left hand, staring at the ring he'd bought me._

_"It's alright," I said. "I know you'll come back. You always have." He smiled and whispered words of endearment in my ear, words that expressed how unworthy he was and how beautiful I would always be. Looking up, I saw those emerald eyes, the ones that I had fallen in love with._

_"How is Keiryi?" he asked me, sitting down on one of the steps that led up to the altar._

_"She's doing fine," I replied. "I'm afraid I haven't been a very good mother, though. I just couldn't forget you, Kurama."_

_"No," he said, capturing my attention with that enrapturing stare. "You've been doing just fine. I'm sorry...I haven't been able to be there for her when I should have been."_

_Once he finished talking, I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned on him. "The master of the Avatars has been merciful," I whispered into his ear. "They let me come here to see you." He nodded, and his hand slipped down to my lower back, holding me gently. This was the way we should have been. I could imagine Jakiri enjoying herself quietly by the side of a man I had never even seen._

_Happiness flooded me as we lay down on the floor, both staring at the ceiling. My shirt was pulled up a little, and rose petals caressed that strip of bared flesh. No one but the two of us mattered for that time, and neither of us wanted to leave. We didn't have to do anything but look at each other and be with each other to while the hours away. "I love you," I whispered, and the two of us turned to each other. I fingered his neck carefully with my fingers, and he touched my thigh, planting a smile on my lips. Too soon, though, I felt this dream slipping away, only to be replaced by another..._

_I crawled out of the water, wet and disheveled. Once I found myself on the shore, I collapsed, closing my eyes for a short while. When they were opened again, an orange jacket was draped over my upper body like a blanket. Chill air nipped at my bared legs, so I clasped the jacket shut and got up, huddling as much of me inside that jacket as I could. Then it occurred to me why I wasn't having trouble fitting my entire self under that jacket and zipping it up. It was Kurama's jacket, the one that was sitting in my closet at home._

_Suddenly, I heard footsteps, and there he was. Darkness provided a veil for what happened next. We enjoyed each other's company afterward until dawn. It wasn't difficult at all to spend the rest of our time together telling him what had been happening in reality. Yukina's disease made him worry, and I decided not to ask about that, but soon he said he had to return to the place where he belonged. "Imrenna only allows me to leave the cathedral for the night. Otherwise, there will be too many things to do," he explained._

_"Remember who your mistress is," I warned cautiously, giving him a dangerous look._

_"Of course," he said, and kissed me one last time, leaving me hungry for more just like he always did..._

"Mother? Mother! Wake up!" Ah...Keiryi. I figured she would want me again sooner or later.

"What is it?" I asked hazily. "I only slept for a few hours." Looking outside, I saw that it was already dark out, and I was still exhausted.

"There's someone at the door."

**A/N-Dun dun dun. Who is it, I wonder? Glad to see Jakiri returning, and I just had to say what really happened in all those years I skipped over, and I couldn't resist writing just a little more Katie-Kurama fluff. It's been so long! Review if it pleases you!**

**Miari**


	7. Question and Answer

I walked up to the door slowly and cautiously, wondering who it could be at this time in the day. Kuwabara wasn't off of work yet, and I knew that Yukina was still abed for sure. Beside me, Keiryi watched warily. Inside, I could feel some spark of demonic energy rising to the surface. "Stay back," I told her. "I'll get it." Ready as ever to defend both myself and my daughter, I opened the door and then had to look down.

"Hello?" I said, looking around to see who it was. Finally, I looked down and saw Hiei. He wore his long black cape and a white bandanna around his forehead. Crimson eyes stared at me furiously and I resolved to keep my eyes as blank as possible.

"Greetings," he said irritably, tilting his head, making himself look even more annoyed. Someone must have been forcing him to do this. "Where's the child?" I gasped and sank back into a fighting stance, daring him to try and take my daughter.

"You're out of practice, you fool," Hiei said matter-of-factly, and brushed right past me. "You don't scare me." Infuriated, I relaxed and followed him back to Keiryi.

"What do you want?" I demanded. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck bristling as I tried to think of a threat that would faze Hiei.

"I need to take her away," he said quietly, "_now._"

My heart almost broke in two at that moment. How could he take away my child days before she was due to leave? Couldn't I have a little more time to cherish my daughter before she was taken from me? "Why now?" I asked. "Why can't you wait until the time when you were supposed to take her!"

"She'll never learn fast enough if I wait that long," Hiei replied. "Beside, we have a longer journey than expected. We need the extra time." When he looked toward Keiryi, she shrank back, unwilling as I was.

"No," she said stubbornly. "You said one week. I haven't had a chance to say goodbye yet."

"Well say your goodbyes and let's go," Hiei said, giving his least sympathetic answer.

I growled under my breath, wishing all sorts of curses on this dark man so that he would have to leave and let someone else train Keiryi. "Goodbye, Mother," Keiryi said, turning to me. I saw the pain in her eyes and the tears that were welling up. For the last time, I wrapped her up in my arms and let her cry. How could I let my child, my only child, leave without assurance that she would return?

"Be strong, Keiryi," I whispered, reiterating the words Kurama had spoken to me. Those words would always mean more to me than any other sort of comfort, and I felt that Keiryi understood.

"Carry on, Mother," she said softly, looking up at me. I bent down and kissed her, stroking the hair back behind her ear. Her emerald eyes gazed at me in their foreseen loneliness, and I had to let her go, before it became impossible.

"Can we go already?" Hiei grumbled, and Keiryi nodded, packing a bag and joining him at the door. They walked out and that was the last I thought I would see of Keiryi. Knowing Hiei, he would drive her into the ground to the point where she wouldn't be able to move anymore. How was it possible to let your only child go at such a young age? I knew I would miss her, but there were other things I could do.

Once I knew they were gone, I stood in the center of my bedroom, surrounded by the sparse furniture and pictures of Kurama. A certain energy radiated about the entire room, and I searched within to remember the place where I was headed. The energy signal had moved, and now it was in Hell's Grove...that made sense. She had loved him too, though in a different way. In addition, she had understood that he would never love her as much as he did me.

Slowly, since I hadn't done it in a while, I focused my own energies and fed off of those in the room. A dark green window opened up, and I stepped through, into the place that I had known as home.

Once, a protective barrier had guarded this one grove, but now I felt that it had expanded. Memories flooded back to me. The ony disturbing thing was that not all of them were my own...

_He was wounded, lying on the ground with the one he loved the most on top of him. She tried to stop the flow of blood, but instead, he soothed her and let her hold him. Little by little, life drained out of him, but he wanted to live for as many more hours as possible...if only for her. Sadness hit hard, reminding him that they wouldn't be able to hold each other anymore, young and in love. Hiei would no longer be able to chide him for throwing away his heart. That man had always thought that apathy was a panacea. No matter what the problem, if it was ignored, then he seemed to believe it would go away. _

_As the last drop of blood ran out of him, he smiled up at her and said his last farewell. It was right that he had died with her by his side, but not so right that she had to live on with the grief of losing her first and only love..._

...Awakening from the dream, I gasped in shock. It was Kurama's death through his own eyes! It had been so real, though, and I could feel his every emotion, his every thought. Why could I remember his memories, and why were they not coming back sooner? "Kaiina?" It wasn't until she acknowledged me that I realized that I had reverted to my demon form.

"Yuki?" I replied, looking up to see a short, green-haired woman.

"Nice to see you again, too," Yuki said with a smirk, helping me up. The time when we had first met seemed so far off, and now I knew that we were friends, not rivals.

"Likewise," I muttered, letting my hair down from its unruly bun and allowing its dark brown beauty to flow down my back.

"Would you like to come in?" Yuki asked, gesturing toward the cottage that she had built here. No trees had been used here. Instead, mosses and leaves seemed to hold themselves together in the form of a house.

We walked into the house, and it was homey, with an earthen floor and magic holding the cool air out. None of nature had been harmed here, and I knew that nature was the source of Yuki's power. "What's wrong, Kaiina?" she asked, sitting me down in a cushioned chair. "I can sense some sort of loss on your mind, and...something more."

"Hiei had to take Keiryi away to train her," I said bluntly. "How could I refuse my daughter the chance to explore her powers?"

Yuki didn't seem to think it was so black-and-white, though. Her eyes shot open, and I backed away a little bit. "That job should have been yours," she said. "Keiryi is your child, and that prat Hiei should have no part in raising a child that's not his own!" Completely baffled at her response, I allowed her to rant. "Now that she's gone, you can't do anything, but if that son of a bitch ever kills Keiryi, wait until I get my hands on him! He doesn't deserve a sister like Yukina!"

"Calm down, Yuki," I finally said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He made a vow with Kurama before his death that if anything ever happened to Keiryi's father, he'd look after the girl. So, he's trying to make good on his promise."

Breathing heavily, Yuki stared at me and soothed her own mind. "So," she panted, "what else is on your mind?"

"Yukina's very sick," I said demurely. "Keiryi said Yukina told her I had something to do with it, and the poor girl's been abed for a few days now."

"That's not good," Yuki admitted. "If you want, I can go look at it."

"That would be great," I said. "You worked wonders for me. All you can see is a few scars now."

"Good," she said, flashing her haughty smile and waving her hand through the air to create a brightly-glowing white portal.

The journey through this portal placed us in precisely the right place...next to Yukina's bed. "Do you know where she's in pain?" Yuki asked.

"No," I admitted, and stared in awe at how sickly Yukina looked. The last time I had seen her, she had been in perfectly good health, but now her eyes were clenched shut, and I could see that something was taking its toll on her. "Are you just going to look her over," I asked, "or is there something else you can do for her?"

Before my companion could answer, Mikari walked in and started in shock. "What are you doing here!" she shouted at Yuki. "Get away from Mom!"

"Shut up before you wake her," Yuki hissed under her breath, and waved her hand, pinning a confused Mikari to the wall. Without distraction, she proceeded to run her hands lightly over Yukina's body, wincing when she found her way to the center of her chest.

"It's feeding off of her demon energy," she breathed, staring down at the prostrate body on the bed. "The energy signal...it reeks of yours."

"Thanks," I growled sarcastically. That really wasn't helping anything to know that it seemed like my energy signal.

"Ask your old servant to come and see it," Yuki suggested. "She might know if it's one of your family members. I honestly can't do anything more here." With a wave of her hand, she disappeared into thin air, and Mikari fell to the floor, clutching her throat.

"Who was she?" Yukina's daughter whined, trying to take in too much air and choking on it. "Did she hurt Mom?" At mention of her mother being hurt further, tears welled up in Mikari's eyes.

Uncertain what else to do, I rested a hand on Mikari's petite shoulder and stared into her eyes, still in my demon form. "Who are you?" she asked.

"It's me," I replied, "Kai...I mean Katie."

"Are you sure?" she asked me, looking up with her sad, crimson eyes.

"Just go back to sleep," I muttered. "You need it after worrying this much. You're sleepwalking, and good little girls should be in bed." She leaned on my hand a little and I took up her little frame, fondling her as if she were my own child...

_Ly, ly, ly ly, ly ly_

_Ly ly, ly, ly, ly..._

_Hush your little whispers_

_And calm your petty fears._

_Don't worry about tomorrow..._

_Mother is here._

_Ly, ly, ly ly, ly ly_

_Ly ly, ly, ly, ly..._

_Have no silly qualms,_

_Reap no fruitless grain._

_Sleep upon my shoulder_

_While outside falls the rain._

_Ly, ly, ly ly, ly ly_

_Ly ly, ly, ly, ly..._

_Calm your nervous heart,_

_And soon your mind shall know_

_The secrets of tomorrow,_

_Then we'll all go home._

_Ly, ly, ly ly, ly ly_

_Ly ly, ly, ly, ly..._

_Listen closely now_

_And take of me heed._

_Nervousness worry_

_And hate does breed._

Convinced, she fell asleep, and I slowly slid her onto the floor. Now it was time to call her and see if we could get to the bottom of this. Once more, I focused the demonic energies inside of me and sent out a green streak that flew out the window and toward the sky. Jakiri should be here within the day, and then we could sort it all out.

Waiting was the worst part of the entire operation. For a few hours, I lay on the Kuwabara couch and hoped that Jakiri wasn't lost, or worse, busy with Terry. At around six, Kuwabara came home, and he was blushing a little. "I didn't know she was still around," he said, gesturing toward Jakiri, who was wrapped up in a scarf.

"Finally!" I shouted, ignoring Kuwabara. I jumped up and ran over to hug Jakiri. "You need to see Yukina," I said. "Yuki said that the thing that's infested her...it has the trace of a family member of mine, perhaps a distant relative."

"Alright," Jakiri said, allowing a slight laugh and a flippant wave of her hand.

We went upstairs, and there was Yukina, and Mikari sleeping on the floor. Upon seeing how bad our friend's condition was, Jakiri ran over and pressed a hand to the spot that Yuki had pointed out. "It's definitely feeding on her demon energy," she confirmed. "It does feel like one of your relatives...Ithrana...Lokeira...Jhaamin...no...it can't be..."

"Who?" I demanded, figuring that I would be able to take the news, whoever it was.

"Fehreil."

**A/N-Yay! Another chapter finished! I'm loving how this story's turning out, and I promise you'll get to see what's happening with Keiryi soon. First off, I have a devious plot-twist cooked up for her, so I can't wait to write it and watch it play out cue evil laughter. Thanks to my...one reviewer...yeah...sobs**

**Miari**


	8. Fehreil

**Keiryi's Point of View**

Hiei led me down the road a few blocks until we came to an old, beat-up building. Paint was peeling from the sides, and I could see that a few of the top floors had fallen out. "Why are we here?" I asked. He had just pulled me out of my house as soon as I was packed, and I had never had the time or courage to ask where we were going. Hiei stopped, and turned to glare at me. That was all I needed to know that talking wouldn't be welcome. I knew he wasn't the social type, but I had never thought he would be trusted to take care of someone else's child.

"This is where your mother came here," he explained flatly. "The remnants of the portal are still here." Okay. I decided to just wait and see what demon world would look like. My idea of Demon World was hellfire and brimstone, and vicious demons trying to kill me. At least I knew the last part was right. Untying the bandanna around his forehead, Hiei revealed a third eye, a disturbingly blue one. Though it clashed with his crimson eyes, which were in the natural place, it was apparent that all three eyes belonged on his face and were in their proper places. I only got to see the third eye for a moment though.

After a few seconds, that blue eye started to glow, and I stared in awe. Before our eyes, a gaping black hole opened up, and beyond I could see an electrified web with a small hole in it. When Hiei saw my puzzled look at the solitary hole, he laughed darkly. "The Enchantress opened the gates for us," he said, and then jumped through, dragging me along with one tug of his wiry arm.

The journey through the portal was worse than any Hell I could imagine. It was like my soul was rent apart and then put back together again. Impossible as it sounds, I kept my conscious the whole way, but then puked when we landed on solid ground. Hiei glared at my weakness and waited until I was done.

However, when I opened my eyes, I noticed something thick and black hanging beside my face. When I felt it, something tugged at my scalp. Where was my red hair? Pulling back, I looked down at myself and gasped. A slanted, dark blue skirt swirled at my knees, and I wore a dark blue top that was clasped over one shoulder, with a golden sash tied around it under my bust. A broad, golden belt held my skirt up.

When I moved to walk, I felt an extra something near my bottom. Looking backward, I saw a black fox-tail tipped with gold. Black fox-ears tipped with gold twitched atop my head. Hiei stared at me for a moment and then smirked in an annoyingly arrogant way. "So this is what you would have looked like," he mused. "Interesting."

"What?" I demanded hotly, still getting over the shock. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing," he smirked, and walked away.

Demon World wasn't half as bad as I'd thought it would be. Vast plains covered in grass stretched out, and I could see that there was a forest in the distance. A clear, though dreary, sky gazed down upon us as we walked calmly to the place where Hiei was going to be taking me. Eventually, I got used to the fox-tail swishing behind me and the black ears that twitched on top of my head. Now that my voluminous black hair was tied back in a ponytail, I felt we were ready to go.

Hiei set a grueling pace, and refused to stop even after darkness fell. When we reached a small alcove, we ducked in there to catch a few hours of sleep. Dreams came to me again, but they were different than anything I had ever dreamed before...

_I was engaged in the hunt, the exhilarating rush that came with the chasing of my helpless prey. Unable to see what I was chasing, I charged ahead and bounded forward. Lucky for him, he had escaped my clutches. The rotten bastard would make a great chase indeed. _

_Trees flashed by, and I stopped all of a sudden, caught in front of a jagged stone wall. Looking up, I saw that that wall was part of an enormous castle with only one turret that seemed to reach eternally to the heavens. Dark crimson streaks slashed across the face of the stone in a sort of vulgar way, but then they seemed to belong there, too. My eyes widened when a bolt of lightning came crashing down. Frightened, my mind scrambled to find a way to escape the greedy claws of death..._

Screaming, I awakened to see Hiei leaning over me with a hand pressed to my forehead. Had he really been worried about me, or was he just trying hard to keep his promise? When he realized I was awake, Hiei gasped and fell backward, glaring at me with all three eyes. "Sorry," I said demurely, "I had a bad dream."

"Shut up and let's get going," Hiei grumbled. "We have a ways to go still."

Once more, we set off at a shockingly fast pace. Though I'd never even come close to this pace before, I ran with abandon, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that I could maybe even outrun Hiei if it was worth the trouble. Very little bothered us, but when we approached the forest that had been in the distance for so long, Hiei slowed to a halt.

"Someone's watching us," he murmured suspiciously. "Stay behind me." Drawing in a quick breath, I stood behind him and waited, crouched down and ready to spring away if need be. Before long, something crept out of the shadows, and I could make out a man with pitch-black eyes and flowing, dark brown hair that swept his waist when he walked. A certain grace was portrayed in each of his movements, and I could tell that he was powerful.

"Give me the child, Hiei," he said in a deep voice. When he moved his arm to point at me, his muscles tensed in anger.

"No," Hiei breathed finally, drawing his sword out slightly. The man smirked and stood there, casting off the crimson cape he had been wearing to reveal his full appearance. A long raiment covered him, something like s priestly robe. Underneath, I glimpsed part of his bared chest, and those eyes stared at me in a predatory way.

"Come now," he coaxed, smirking, "you know you can't win, Hiei."

"I promised an old friend I'd keep her safe."

"That tramp is nothing," he retorted, his eyes growing as hard and unmoveable as twin stones. "He left my daughter bereaved of everything she once was, and still you defend their spawn."

Suddenly, it sank in, and I sprang over Hiei, running at the man. "Don't insult my father!" I shouted, too young then to realize how stupid I really was. He smiled at my courage and then steeled himself again. In one flash of glimmering steel, I found myself lying on the ground with a long gash in my stomach. Pressing an arm to my wound, I sat up and watched them bantering.

"Fight me, then," Hiei said, and the man shrugged. I couldn't see him, but Hiei went flying into a tree so hard he was out cold.

"Fool," the man muttered, and turned to me. As he walked over, I saw those lustful crimson eyes flashing before me.

"No..."

"Come to me Keiryi, and claim the heritage that you will come to desire," he hissed, extending a hand to me. Fear was blatant in my eyes as I tried to scoot backward on my hands and feet.

"Never...you...slandered him..."

"Kaiina was just a whore who gave herself to love," he said. "Weakness doesn't suit your bloodline, Keiryi. Become what you were meant to be.

All of a sudden, I felt my world spinning as I flashed between my familiar self and my fox form. Everything was confused, and I saw his face flashing too. One moment he was the stranger...then Hiei...the Hiro..then the beautiful red-haired youth, Shuiichi. "Father?" I whispered.

"Yes," said a deep soothing voice. "I'll take you home."

After that I was half asleep in my father's arms. Though the ride was bumpy, I soon found myself at the foot of the crimson-streaked castle from my dream. I looked up to see that it wasn't my father who was carrying me, but that man from before. "Let me go," I demanded weakly, trying to struggle only to feel something wrenching my stomach in two.

"But you're in no condition to leave," he said sarcastically. "Don't you want to acquaint yourself with your own grandfather?"

"No," I said acidly, rolling out of his arms and onto hard stone. That didn't help the ribs that seemed to be broken.

With a confident smirk, he picked me back up and carried me up a _very_ long spiral staircase. By the time we were at the top, I thought I would throw up from dizziness. "What do you want from me?" I asked, and he looked at me with a smile.

"You'll just have to wait and see." He flashed a ridiculous, irritating smirk and stroked my hair, pretending to be a decent grandfather.

"You're too young to be my grandfather," I stated flatly. Within my own mind, I sighed and noted how much I had picked up from Hiei already.

"I see you've got quite a bit of your father's blood," the man remarked casually, standing up and weighing me with those deep, dark eyes. "Kurama never trusted anyone much. I offered him part of the throne once in exchange for my daughter. Funny he wouldn't take it though. I was watching his every move when he was watching my daughter. You even have the build of a kitsune."

Remembering that I was still in this odd fox body, I smiled uneasily and scooted down a little further away from this strange grandfather. First he was fighting Hiei so he could take me, and then he acted as though we had been friendly for years. It bothered me to know that most of my only living relatives were probably the exact same way. "Are any other members of your family alive?" I asked, curiosity overcoming my fear. For a very long moment, he fell silent, and I could see him waging an internal battle. Should he tell me what I knew and risk me ratting him out to Hiei, or should he leave me in the darkness? It was so plainly displayed for one who must have been used to so much manipulation.

"No," he said. "Your last cousin died not a month ago. Those of the Ashrana family who were still alive regrouped a year ago, but I was the only one who survived the daring feats that we attempted. We even managed to steal something from Koenma's vault."

"Why didn't you consider their well-being?" I asked, infuriated at the little faith they had in the value of life. Was one soul so negligible that they could all just throw away their lives to be thieves?

"You look demon enough," he hissed, "so why don't you get some sense of how things work in Makai?" I could see the rage in his eyes as he got up in my face.

Even though we had talked for a while, I still didn't understand why he had brought me here. Every time I asked, all I got was a sigh and a disappointed look. Couldn't he at least hint at why he would steal me away from this very important training. Finally, I asked for the last time, "Why am I here? Why won't you let me go train with Hiei?"

"Because they don't understand your destiny," he replied darkly, turning away from me slightly. "You are a beautiful young kitsune, not some puppet who should be afraid. You know little of your power, and Hiei doesn't know much more. Stay with me, and I will train you to be the greatest heir ever to grace my land." The idea of ruling my own kingdom was enticing, but there were other ties I had that would not allow me to remain here that long.

"What about my family?" I asked, throwing my hands in the air. "Won't I be able to go home and see Mother again? She'll...she'll die if she never sees me again. One loved one taken is quite enough taxation on her mind." He shook his head and sat down once more, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"Your family is not what matters anymore," he began. "Keiryi, you must learn to make a name for yourself, and fend for your own good."

"I'm only thirteen," I argued, feeling like being a difficult child. "I can't rule a country when I'm this young."

"But that doesn't mean you can't learn," he retorted, smirking confidently, as if he'd already won the argument.

Suddenly, a tall, willowy girl glided into the room gracefully, smiling as if she was being forced to do so. Snowy white wings trailed on the ground from her back, and it looked like her total span was somewhere around fourteen feet. Light brown hair fell raggedly to her shoulders, the back tied into a tight knot. "Master," she said demurely, giving a sweeping bow with the added effect of her wings. They spread out on the ground as she bent almost double, and I smiled at the beauty of it all.

"What is it, Angela?" he demanded firmly, staring directly into the servant's eye contact.

"Sakore's entourage is here, and I believe they have a matter of business to attend to," she replied.

"Sakore?" I echoed dumbly, feeling as though nobody told me anything anymore.

Angela smiled and dug in her pocket, trying to find something. When she pulled it out, I saw an envelope sealed with a wax seal depicting a white dragon fang on an icy blue background. "Jakiri," he whispered harshly. What would Jakiri have to do with any of this? Was she coming to rescue me? Angela bid us farewell and then backed out the door, lifting her wings off of the floor so as not to step on them.

"Why such distaste for Jakiri?" I inquired, looking at my grandfather.

"She drew your mother away from me and closer to the wilderness. After this transferral, she quickly fell in love with that seductive thief." When he touched my forehead, I could see the images through unseen eyes, those of my mother...

**"Please understand, Fehreil," a young woman pleaded. "I am of the Iceshadow...our race has guarded your people for countless generations, and I ask of you only your trust." Snow-white hair was tied back in a thick ponytail that went all the way down to her waist, tapering slightly at the end. Frozen, ice-blue eyes gazed at this young Fehreil, who looked like a more naive version of the man I had been standing before a moment ago.**

**"Your race is trustworthy," he replied stonily, "but you are not. Time and time again you have failed to reign in my daughter when she disobeyed my orders. By now, a less merciful master would have had you stoned in public for being disloyal to your true master."**

**"I serve only one," she spat back, "and it will never be you!" Once he heard those harsh words, Fehreil leaped forward and slapped Jakiri across the face. It stung from the rebuke as she placed a hand upon the place where it hurt.**

**"Know who punishes who," Fehreil steamed. "I won't allow you to take away my only heir! She is my daughter!"**

**"Only because you raped Rhia," Jakiri shot back, defying him once more. Her ice blue eyes started to look more like those of a snake. White wings sprouted from her back, and soon enough, she had transformed into a sleek, white dragon.**

**Perched on two slender legs, she whirled about, slamming her tail into a wall. _"Let her go where she will be happy!"_ she shouted. _"She will not be the heir to your kingdom of graft and corruption!"_ Fehreil leaned back against the wall and panted heavily. That was the first time I had ever seen him acting that nervous, and soon Jakiri advanced.**

**Though she didn't kill him, she still grazed him arm with her tail, leaving a long gash that went all the way up the length of the arm. Once satisfied with the terror she had caused, Jakiri reduced herself to a humanoid creature once more and walked out of the room, turning back to tell him that his daughter would be leaving, whether he liked it or not...**

"And that is why," he finished. "I am Fehreil, and once I was the king of all of Makai. Now, my domain has been reduced to ashes, and my people reside in anarchy. Yomi...Mukuro...Raizen...the three current rulers feud so much that little is done. Their domains clash and it ends a stalemate. There is nothing they can do once I have assembled my full power." Only slightly, I cringed at the thought of Fehreil as ruler. If only there was a way to defeat him and his tremendous power.

In the depths of my heart, though, I found a sadness at the fall of such a great king. He had everything taken from him...his daughter, his kingdom, his life. I couldn't imagine living without the things that were most important to me. Hiro, Mikari, Kazuma, Yukina, and most importantly...Mother. Mother was at the core of my life, the core of what I did with myself. If she was to leave this world, I knew I would die.

Suddenly, Fehreil's voice wakened me back to reality. "It's time to go see Jakiri," he said wistfully, and I reluctantly got up, ready to go face the next scene in this horrific play that had become my life...

**Author's Note: **

**Sorry for the really long wait for an update. I know you fans of Midnight Rose are probably slightly disappointed, but it's alright. If I think of an idea for the next chapter, I'll try and get that one done sooner.**

**Ta!**

**Miari**


	9. Opening the Door

The antechamber in which we met Jakiri was large and empty..._very _empty. It made me wonder what Fehreil did with his days in this lonely, haunted castle. Did he simply sit in his chambers, the only decorated part of the building and contemplate revenge upon his disloyal daughter? How could he live such a desolate life?

For the moment, though, I was able to forget such things. Jakiri stared him down fiercely, and neither looked willing to back down. Within the "entourage" was Hiei, looking like a child who had just lost to his worst enemy in a game. Arms crossed over his chest, he glared at Fehreil just as he had glared at me the first time we met. "You took something that wasn't yours," Jakiri warned. She was in the form in which I had seen her in the vision shown to me by Fehreil. This time, she blazed with the power that was often kept dormant. Rage and blind fury brought forth the dragon within her.

"Oh, but she was mine from the beginning," Fehreil whispered. "I don't know if you've heard of the _Acra'dor_."

"A blood oath," Jakiri said, surprised and beyond belief at some hidden meaning within those words, "the seal of death's promise."

"That would be right, my lovely servant," he replied. "I see my daughter has taught you well. She is bound by one as well...when I am resurrected, her bloodline will be forced into servitude under my throne. Yes, that's right. If her whelp of a lover comes back, he will be my slave for the remnant of his life."

As I watched Hiei's eyes, I saw something snap, and he fingered the hilt of his blade. Something of enormous proportions was raging inside his mind, and I had no idea what it was. "Hiei!" I cried out, running over to support him as he fell forward. "Are...are you alright?"

"Get off, Keiryi," he snarled, throwing me away effortlessly. Jakiri covered her mouth and stared into my eyes. After a little while, she turned back to Fehreil.

"Why?" she asked. "Why make your own daughter swear that kind of oath!"

"Because I could tell she was too much like her mother from the start," he growled, and I watched his ebon eyes, the muscles in his thick, well-built arms tensing and loosening constantly. "I thought that if I had her under such an oath, she wouldn't stray from the path I desired. However, she found the thing that freed her from the oath...love."

"How do you know that Keiryi must serve you then?" Hiei demanded, kneeling on the floor. Blood poured from his arm steadily, spreading small crimson rivulets on the floor.

At this, he barked a triumphant laugh, deeming all that any of us had to say as null and void. "The sins of the parent will be visited on the child," he remarked darkly. "Keiryi is payment for her mother's misguided mistakes. Fortunately, she hasn't whored herself off to any fox yet. That means she'll be pure for the day she gives birth to my heir."

"No," I breathed furiously, leaping to my feet.

In a sudden rush of adrenaline, I dashed forward. My hands wove in complex patterns that I had never seen before, but if I closed my eyes, I could faintly recall them. Thorned vines sprouted up in random places around Fehreil, and when he was enclosed, I thrust my hand forward, sending out a number of seeds that sprouted into knives. They sought him out and soon, one had stabbed him in the neck. After that, the rest followed in suit. Fehreil's bloodied body lay on the ground, and I saw fresh blood streaking the wall.

Somehow, the animal in me smiled at this, satisfied with the bloodshed that had occured there. Before I could do anything, she took control. My hands were stained with blood already, but it didn't stop there. Turning on Jakiri, I felt like I was flying forward as I vaulted into the air. When I landed, though, the sound of Fehreil's voice brought me back, subduing the part of me that wanted to kill them all. "I'm afraid to tell you that that wretch was only a false image," the voice said, coming from everywhere at once. "You will have to search much harder to find me. Much harder."

My mind seemed to shatter right then and there. How could I have listened to him, talked and carried on conversation with him, if his whole existence had been a lie? Was he really still there, or was this a hoax so that someone else could take revenge on Mother? "I'm sorry," I choked out, realizing that I was on the verge of tears. Everybody had been taken from their tasks at hand for the sole purpose of saving me from a mere puppet...a thing created to be a diversion.

"It's alright," Jakiri murmured, jogging over to me and hugging me close. Though this form was a little foreboding- especially after the image of the dragon -, I found her more comforting than Hiei. He just sat on the sidelines, murmuring something about what a useless baka I was.

"I dragged you all out here for nothing," I whispered, cringing at the thought of what could have happened. Black and gold fox ears drooping, my entire body in a sunken mess on the floor, I was the quintessence of self-pity. "I don't even know how to use these powers, and she wanted to kill you all...no matter who it was..."

At the mention of my other half, Jakiri's eyes shot wide open, and she looked at me as though I had just cursed at her. "You mean your demon counterpart?" she stuttered, grasping my shoulders and holding me at arm's length. Why was she putting me under this sort of scrutiny? Couldn't we just go home already and see Mother, Hiro, Mikari, Yukina, Kazuma? I missed them all, and I knew they all missed me. There was nobody else left who cared about me, and Fehreil only wanted to use me so that he could have an heir to his "kingdom".

"Can we _please_ leave?" Hiei complained. "All this place is is a pile of blood-stained rubble."

"There's no need to hang around here," a deep voice said from the background. I saw a tall, narrowly-built man emerge from the shadows where Hiei and a few others had been. His long black hair was tied back into a ponytail, brushing the midpoint of his back. Disturbing violet eyes peered at me, weighing everything I was and could be.

"Who...are you?" I asked quietly, still dazed from my experience with "Fehreil".

"My name is Sakore," he replied. "I was a...friend of your father's."

"Oh."

On top of my distress with Yukina, and my foreboding thoughts about journeying with Hiei, it didn't help that there were more of my father's old friends cropping up day by day. It would have been easier had I been allowed to live a normal teenage life instead of being forced into this warped version of reality. "I'm Keiryi," I said tiredly, allowing Sakore to help me up.

"I know," he replied, giving me a quick pat on the back.

Dressed up in these ceremonial clothes, I realized how much I had grown since my transformation. The flared green pants emphasized how long my legs had gotten, and I could see my upper half had grown quite a bit also. A light, green cloth covered half my torso, leaving most of my stomach bare. A yellow sash was tied around the bottom to keep it on, and also around the waist of my pants.

"Kai...I mean Katie will be very happy to see how much you've grown," Jakiri remarked, and I smiled slightly. It was always nice to feel like I was maturing...settling into my own body.

"So we're going home?" I inquired.

"Of course," Sakore smiled, "but first, we have to figure out how to transform you back. You can't walk about Ningenkai with a tail and ears."

So we all trooped out of the blood-stained castle, not one of us feeling the urge to turn back and go inside. Sakore let my ride on his back piggyback style, and we ran for miles upon miles. Scenery both lush and barren flashed before my eyes. It still fascinated me that a place that was the home of demons could be so lush in parts. The barrenness and the heat were no surprise, but some of the forests were even more beautiful than those in my world of birth...Ningenkai as they called it.

Finally, we stopped in a clearing in the midst of a forest, not three yards away from a considerably wide stream. This was when I had time to talk to Sakore, who I knew would have been the closest to my father of the three, and the most willing to talk. "So," I began casually, "what was he like?"

"Hm?" Turning away from watching the brook, Sakore raised an eyebrow and gave me an inquisitive glance.

"My father?"

"Oh yes," he said, "how silly of me to drift off like that. I suppose we all changed."

"Don't change the topic," I begged, feeling a desire for knowledge of the parent I had never known.

"He started out as a harmless, pickpocket thief," Sakore began, clearing his throat. "Not many people knew his name from the start, but then he began to do the larger raids, the ones that involved more skill...more intelligence. Several demons heard of the blood-thirsty Youko, and most of them wanted him dead. I, however, admired his skill, his daring, and his cleverness. So, I was among the first to offer my help to him.

"Though he often claimed he worked alone, we all found strength in numbers. Many of my new comrades were washed-up thieves just like I was, out of work and out of luck. So, we decided to go for the long-shot, the one nobody liked." Here he sighed, looking up at the sky. For a moment, I thought his violet eyes would never return to meet mine, but soon they did indeed.

"It all began to fall apart when he saw your mother...back when she was still a full-fledged demon. He saw her and became obsessed. Night after night, I would patrol the halls and hear him call her name in loneliness. Never before had he been with a woman. Before, all he cared about was scraping by and taking care of us. Then, he told me to watch her, and make sure that no harm came to her, else he would die. I admit, for a while I wanted her ferocious, wild beauty, the thing that few could touch. Now, though, I know I would have been burned by her fiery turned, crushed by her frozen stare. Only Youko could have her under her own will."

"For seven long years I watched her, knowing that I couldn't have the flower of Makai. Then, she was almost killed by a demon hunter. In a last ditch effort, she took him down, coming gratingly close to taking her own life as well. I don't know if it was my lust or my loyalty, but I healed her and took her back to our mansion, where we lived at the time. You should have seen the exuberant smile Youko had when I gave her to him, unconscious and barely healed. You would have to have seen him to have known how truly radiant he was to see the one he would always love."

We just sat there for a little while, staring into the brook. I tried to imagine that redhead, but I figured he hadn't always looked like that and failed to conjure up an image. "What did he look like back then?" I asked curiously, looking at Sakore with his deep, pensive eyes.

"He had hair silver as the moon, and his eyes were a shade of amber never seen before. Pale as a child born into darkness, he had a silver tail and ears of the same shade. He was known as the greatest of his kind to ever live." I imagined him and my eyes shot wide open. Was he really the man from my dream? Was that fierce beauty truly my passive mother?

The river ran swiftly, sloshing up on the banks and reflecting the silver half-moon. I couldn't imagine someone having hair of that shade...it was just too unreal for me. And his eyes presented the same dilemma. Somehow, I knew I would have to see him in order to visualize what he looked like.

"Now I've told you what you want to know, you'd better get some sleep," Sakore said, giving me a quick pat on the head. "We're going to be getting an early start tomorrow."

As soon as he left me there, I curled up on the riverbank and slept soundly...more so than ever before. And while I slept, I dreamed...

_Everything around me was black and cold. There were no people, no Sakore or Jakiri or Hiei. Mother wasn't there either, and I was hoping I was just in a haze, waiting for my senses to return to me after a long, unfinished sleep. Instead, I peered around at the surroundings. Every few feet, there was a slender sliver of light, white as the summer sun's rays. "Mother?" I called through. "Anyone?" And it opened up, revealing a broad landscape that was completely unfamiliar._

_"Welcome, Ashlahnai," a light voice sounded. "I see you have finally found your way home...to the Plane of Luminescence." Plane of Lumi-whatsit? I sighed and looked at the figure before me. She looked much like Angela, except her wings were brown and she had terrifying golden eyes like those of a hawk. She had the same shoulder-length brown hair, the same slight build. _

_"Who are you?" I asked. "Who is Ashlah'nai?"_

_"I am Imrennna," the winged girl responded, giving me a sweeping bow that included her wings. "For years I have guarded his cell, making certain that he doesn't get loose. Else, Fehreil's plan will fail. Soon you will be his queen, though, so it is of no consequence if I tell you."_

_I stood there, agape, and waited for her to say something else. However, nothing came, and I felt increasingly awkward just standing there. "Who is **he**?" I asked, looking her in the eyes. Almost my age, she was a bit shorter than me._

_"That is for him to tell you," Imrenna smiled. Her smile was pretty, but then I found it incredibly chillling at the same time. "You may meet him soon enough."_

_"When is soon enough?" I asked, feeling like quite the contrarian._

_"Now," she replied curtly, and I followed her down the hall that had just appeared._

_That hall seemed to lead us on for hours upon hours as we trudged along it, taking in what little scenery there was. A few doors were scattered here and there, but otherwise it was an incredibly dull, mahogany corridor. "Here we are," Imrenna muttered, drawing a key from within her gown. "Now, the one rule is that you may never open the door. Call for me when you are done speaking with him." And then the door swung open slightly, letting a small sliver of light shine into the otherwise dark room._

_"Hello?" I called, stepping through the door. Once I was inside the room, it swung shut with a loud thud. "Who are you?"_

_"I'm someone very close to you," a cool, collected voice replied. "Before you were born, I knew your mother."_

_"But **who** are you?" I demanded, frustrated at his foggy answers._

_"I am who I am," he replied, and I strained to see him. My efforts were useless though. All I could see was something moving in the darkness. "Forget the question of my name, my heritage. It will come soon enough."_

_"Fair enough," I conceded, sighing. At such a tender age, everyone wanted me to grow up and act like I had, but the stress was slowly collapsing in on me._

_"Imrenna sent you here, didn't she?" he asked, a hint of concern showing through in his otherwise mellow voice. "She wants to drive you mad, prevent you from freeing me. Don't listen to what she says."_

_"Why not?" I demanded. "At least she's willing to be up front and honest, unlike everyone else! Even my own mother didn't tell me the entire truth! I'm only thirteen, and I don't want to be an adult yet! I want to grow up a normal child-!" A strong hand placed itself across my mouth, cutting off my tirade._

_"But you're not," he said. "You have to realize that. Accept it and carry on."_

_"Why?" I asked, looking down at my hands. "Why does it have to happen to me?" Remembering that someone else was there, I held back my tears and felt a strong arm wrapped around my shoulders. "Why comfort me?" I asked. "You-you don't even know me."_

_"Oh," he said in my ear, "but I do...more so than you could possibly know yourself." And I slowly phased out of that world, leaving this strange creature that was willing to comfort a wretched soul like myself..._

"Keiryi?" Jakiri. And Sakore. When my eyes opened, I saw them both huddled over me. Lying on the riverbank, I gazed up at them in shock. What had just happened to me, that I was in such a haze?

"Are you alright?" Sakore asked, feeling my forehead for a temperature. "You...look rather pale." Jakiri just stared at me with that worried look of hers.

"I'm okay," I said, pushing myself up to a sitting position. "I...just had a bad dream."

**A/N: Mwahahahahaha! I make you wait very long, and this is all you get until next chapter. Who is this mysterious creature? What is to become of Keiryi? Will they ever find the real Fehreil? Find out in the next thrilling episode of the Midnight Rose..._TWO_**

**Love to Yuki Amida,**

**Miari**


	10. Homecoming

It was the second night after my encounter with...him. I had no idea what he wanted me to do, but wouldn't it be possible to simply open the door and let him out into the open air? Something inside me, though, said no. Somehow, that would just be too easy. Whatever it was, this prison of his was intertwined with some sort of enchantment that was far deeper than anything I knew or understood.

"Still thinking things over?" Jakiri asked, sitting down next to me.

"Yeah," I shrugged. "I guess so."

"You shouldn't overthink things," Sakore said, taking a place on my other side. His violet eyes gleamed with concern for me, but at the time, I deemed it fatigue, not ready to deal with the emotional task of opening up to new friends.

"I'm not," I pouted. "I'm just trying to figure out what he wants me to do."

"Who exactly is _he_?" Sakore asked. "Is it someone we would know?"

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "I met him in my dream, but it all seemed so real. It couldn't have been a dream...it had to be real."

For a split second, the two exchanged looks, looks that I couldn't exactly read. However, Jakiri picked up the conversation flawlessly.

"Was there a woman with wings involved?" she asked. "Did anyone refer to the Plane of Luminescence?"

"Uh-huh," I said, nodding my head and feeling very stupid for not having known where I was. "She said I was in this plane you're talking about. She took me to a very small room where I met him." At the mention of my unknown friend, both Sakore and Jakiri leaned in a little closer.

"What did this man say?" Sakore asked fervently, and there was that gleam in his eyes."

"He told me he had been very close to my mother, and that he had some connection to me," I continued, quickly growing weary of the constant interruptions. "We talked for a short while. At first I thought he was cold and unfeeling, but then, when I couldn't hold back the tears, he...he hugged me until it stopped. Then I was slipping away from him all too quickly." Jakiri's eyes went wide with shock, but Sakore only closed his eyes and laughed jovially.

Jakiri looked at her friend, and they both leapt to their feet. They embraced each other, laughing and crying at the same time. "Is it true?" Jakiri asked, looking Sakore in the eye. "Is it really him?"

"Of course!" Sakore shouted. "Who else could it be?"

I sat there in a dumb stupor, staring at the two of them as they danced around. It seemed to go on for hours, until I got up and declared that we should get going. Both agreed in a hurried manner, and packed up the few blankets and other objects we'd been carrying the entire way.

"Hiei!" Jakiri called. "Quickly now. We have some wonderful news to tell Katie!" From his perch in a tree, Hiei gave a small "hn" and jumped down.

"Why do I have to follow you three bakas around?" he demanded testily. "I swore my oath to Kurama, not to Katie!"

Sakore just listened to it all and shook his head. My fox ears picked up some slight muttering he uttered, but otherwise, everything was blank. Slowly they twitched, flashes of black and gold. My tail started to sway too. I suppose I was settling into some nervous habits, because I heard footsteps in the distance. "Someone's coming!" I shouted, backing up a few paces.

"Run!" Sakore shouted, and followed his own instructions, dashing off as quickly as Hiei. Jakiri's back sprouted wings as she ran, and she flew ahead of them. As I followed, my legs moved naturally, the baggy clothes presenting few problems as far as wind resistance.

Even though I was keeping up, I was still the slowest one in the pack. Something came up behind me and lifted me up by a fistful of hair. Screaming hysterically, I felt my scalp burn as I squirmed incessantly, trying to free myself. "Let go!" I screamed, and a throaty voice laughed behind me.

"Ha!" it taunted. "Just a stupid half-breed. You'll make a pretty prize, though." It turned me around to face whatever face it had.

When I first laid eyes upon that face, my first instinct was to vomit. Green, tattered skin was peeling away from its face, and greasy black hair popped out of its skull in tufts. Dirty, broken fingernails were buried in my hair. Just seeing him made me feel sick. To think that he wanted me as some slave was even more repulsive.

Before I could take those thoughts any further, Sakore jumped forward and launched a wave of black thorns at the creature, making all of them dodge me. Jakiri beat her massive wings once, and ice enshrouded it up to the wrist. The hand that held my hair loosened its grip, and I fell roughly on my bottom.

"Just a low-class demon," Hiei commented, "not even worth our time." The frozen corpse stood there, still as horrid as before. This was my first contact with a hostile demon. Somehow, I hadn't imagined it being this frightening. In my dreams, I had thought that I would fight him off and win, but instead my friends had to fight him off of me.

A feeling of utter inadequacy swept over me. Mother would have made short work of such a demon, even if he had taken her by surprise. Most likely, Father would have outrun and outwitted such a dumb beast. But I, I cowered in my pathetic state and forgot any way I knew how to fight. Even trying to spit on him would have done better than what I had done.

"I'm sorry," I said, plodding along the road in a crestfallen manner. "I shouldn't be here. You had to come out here to save me because I got captured by Fehreil, and now I can't even defend myself. You all should have just left me to rot in his palace." Sakore fell back by my side, and grasped my shoulders gently.

"Keiryi," he said. "Not everyone has natural strength like your parents did. Some people have to earn it. You still have years to become what you were meant to be."

He was right, but I didn't want to listen to him. I was convinced that I was worthless. I had abandoned Hiro and Mikari while they were struggling with Yukina's illness, and I had just gotten captured by my insane grandfather's likeness. There was no hope for me, no redemption. I would be forever entwined in failure and inadequacy.

"I was a waste of your time," I told Sakore. "You should never have bothered coming to save me."

"Listen," Sakore demanded, shaking me a little violently. "You won't quit like that. You are all your mother has left, and I don't think you want to see her fall apart like she will if you stay like this. This is not the Keiryi we know and love. If you're still in there, come out. Please, come out!" He lunged forward and leaned his head against my chest. Tears fell slowly, dripping off onto me.

"What is it?" I asked, and something inside me suddenly lurched. I looked down, and saw my usual red hair resting on my shoulder. Sakore's forehead was now pressed against my chin.

"What happened?" I asked, starting backward. Sakore caught himself on his hands and knees and slowly got to his feet.

"You're back to normal," he said, shocked that I had transformed so quickly. When it happened though, it had seemed so natural. Now that I actually tried to find what had done it, the answer eluded me ever so easily. I felt as though I could try and try and it wouldn't happen again.

Jakiri stared at me with a very curious, blank look. Her eyes measured and weighed me, making me feel like some animal. "You're back to your normal form," she commented casually, smiling at me. "That means we can go back now." It all seemed so simple. I hadn't known before that Jakiri was able to take us home whenever we wanted. So, in a short time, I was sitting on the grass of our sparse lawn...just thawing from winter.

Outside, Mother looked at me while watering the plants and smiled in surprise. With a giddy scream, she ran over and embraced me, lifting me up easily. "I love you so much, Keiryi," she said, burying her head in my hair and rubbing it in. "Every moment you were gone, I missed having you here! Please, tell me what happened!"

"I think the details can wait until later," Jakiri said tenderly, with a smile that said it should be put aside so as not to dampen the occasion.

"Well," Mother said, "I believe I have a visitor." I looked around, trying to find the aforementioned visitor, but all of it was to no avail as a petite girl with dark green hair stepped out of the shadows. She wore a lime-green sundress with a ruffled bottom and sleeeves that looked just the same. Yellows vines and flowers went everywhere on the dress, and it brought out her vivid green eyes.

"Greetings, Katie," she said, addressing my mother and ignoring me.

"Hello again, Yuki," Mother responded, and they went into the house to talk.

I followed unnoticed, and sat on the stairs to listen to them talking. "It's terminal," Yuki said in an urgent tone. "I tried all the tricks I know, but I couldn't find a way to heal her. Aside from that, she's a very good Koorime specimen...it's a shame to see her go."

"Thank you for trying Yuki," Mother replied, and I knew she was no longer smiling by the tone in her voice. Before I could catch any more of their conversation, I ran over to the phone and dialed the Kuwabara household.

"This is the Kuwabara house," I heard Hiro's voice say. "Speaking?"

"It's Keiryi," I blurted, finding myself suddenly short of breath. "How is your mother?"

"Ri," he said, trying to calm my wild emotions, "nice to see you too. Mom's...not doing well. Dad's been really upset for a few days now, and I don't know how much longer Mikari can make it."

"I'm sorry," I shouted into the phone. "I'm sorry I left you to deal with all of that on your own! I should have been there helping you watch her."

"There's no helping that, now," he said demurely. "Mom's dead now."

For a moment I just held the phone in shock. How could Yukina be dead? What had happened to her that was so terrible? The last time I had seen her, she had been sick and abed, but not on the verge of death. Whatever she had been going through...Yuki had said it was terminal, and I guess she was right.

"It's okay, Ri," Hiro said sympathetically, trying to console me. "You had other things to do, and you didn't say when you would come back, just that you would. Please, don't feel bad just because you couldn't be there. Honestly, you really couldn't help it." My voice was ready to break with tears, but I still kept on talking.

"I...have to go," I choked out. "See you later." Before he could say goodbye, I hung up, pressed my forearms up against the wall, and started crying.

"Keiryi?" came Mother's voice. "Keiryi, what's the matter?"

"I...I h-heard a-a-about Yu-yukina," I sobbed, trying to get myself under control. Fortunately, Yuki had already left, so I didn't have to worry about embarassing myself in front of her. Mother enveloped me in her warm embrace, brushing back my hair and trying to wipe away the tears. Everything was so backward now, and I hardly knew what to think.

"That's what Yuki just told me," Mother replied. "Except she wasn't quite so emotional about it."

"Hiro doesn't want me to worry," I confessed, "but I feel so sorry for him. How can he live without her? She's always been by both their sides and now she's gone...just like that."

We stood there for a while, and I leaned against my mother, feeling something different than anything I ever had before. More clearly than ever, I could tell that she really loved me, and she wanted to have me there by her side all the time. It wasn't temporary, either. Somehow, I knew this sense of safety would last me an eternity. When I was in the times of darkest desolation, I would think of that one moment and instantly find at least a little comfort. If there was no one else left in the world, I could fall back on my mother with confidence. For once, I felt an unconditional acceptance that I had never found before...

**A/N-And that, mes amis, is chappie ten! Pardon me for taking an _eternity_ to get this chapter out, but I kind of abandoned the project for a while, and then decided to come back to it. When I got an e-mail telling me about a new review to the first Midnight Rose, I figured I'd better start this one up again before you guys start chasing me with pitchforks!**

**Peace Out!**

**Miari**


	11. Desperation

For the first few days I was back, all I did was sleep. That was just about all my body felt like doing after helping to fight off Fehreil and his minions, and undergoing my first transformation. One thing Mother told me about transforming was that it was very taxing to my energy to attain such a form, and the intense fighting I did while in that form would be very taxing on my body, which still wasn't entirely developed yet.

The thing that surprised me most about the days after my homecoming was that no one came to visit. The Kuwabaras were too occupied taking care of Yukina's funeral preparations, and Yusuke was off on a "case", or so Mother said. Nobody in the neighborhood knew us, and, for the most part, we had no intention of attracting too much attention. It was all we could do now to deflect questions about strange things that seemed to happen at our house. I had noticed years ago that many people were in and out, a lot of people I didn't know.

Whenever I worked up the courage to ask Mother about these people, she made up an excuse, usually a chore that needed doing. Eventually, I learned that it was best not to ask about things too much when it came to my mother. She always found a way to get out of answering a question...always.

Thursday...it was the day of Yukina's wake. First, I was dressed up in black, a form-fitting dress that hung down to my knees. Mother wore a simple black dress also, but she looked so elegant, and so perfect, while I just looked out of place, my red hair clashing against the black fabric. "Now try your best to be quiet," Mother warned me, brandishing a finger in my face. "And remember, death is only the beginning of immeasurable freedom." After she said this, she looked down solemnly, as if she almost didn't believe her own words. She picked her head up and hurried me out the door after a few more seconds.

People were gathered in the Kuwabaras' apartment, but I didn't expect to see so few. Hiro and Mikari were off to the side, standing at the door to their room. I wanted to go and comfort them, but Kazuma found us before I could. "I'm sorry I wasn't more understanding about you and Kurama,"he said, staring at my mother sadly. "I just didn't know what it felt like to lose someone who's so close to you." Mother embraced him, letting him cry on her shoulder.

"It's alright," she whispered. "I couldn't have expected you to understand." She paused for a moment, lost in a memory. However, it wasn't long before she snapped back to reality.

"They were both so young...so full of life," she continued absently. "I don't know why fate decided that they should die so soon." Suddenly, I was thrust back into a scene from long ago, over ten years ago...

_People bustled about in a cathedral laden with roses. At the front sat a coffin, so large and imposing that I was afraid to approach it. Yet approach it I did, and I would regret it later. There was the youth who had fathered me at such a young age. Red hair flowed down the length of his back, and though his eyes were closed, I knew that emerald brilliance that was present in all the photographs._

_A woman came down the aisle, trembling visibly as she walked. Her dark hair was disheveled, and her eyes were reddened with tears. Upon reaching the coffin, she shouted words of helplessness at the dead body, wishing he could hear what she had to say. She stroked a beautiful, rose-carved ring, and then pressed it to his cold, lifeless chest. Eventually, she scooped the body up in her arms, and embraced it as though he were still alive, so passionately in love with her. "Mother?" I called when I saw the tears rolling down her cheeks. I longed to comfort her and help her through his death. Though I had never known him, he was my own father, and he held a special place in my heart._

_She didn't react to my voice at all, and slowly the world melted away before me, and I was walking toward a different coffin, and there were no rose petals strewn across the aisle..._

There I was, walking toward Yukina's body as she lay there. It was so different to see her in this state. When I had left, she was sick and abed, but she hadn't seemed terribly ill. Mother walked away from the coffin and allowed me to see the body. There was kind, serene Yukina, but I had never realized before how full of life she was. At times, I had wondered how she could possibly attract someone like Kazuma, who was hardly quiet. However, as they grew out of adolescence together, the extremities had faded away, and Yukina had learned to laugh, while Kazuma had taken a more serious attitude on life and commitments.

Unsure of what else to do, I knelt at the side of the coffin, taking one of her hands in mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mikari leave the room after Hiro said something. I decided to focus all my attention on Yukina. "I...I'm sorry I never tried to know you," I began, trying to think of what to say. "Kazuma was always the one who would talk at parties, and...it just never occurred to me that you might have had more to say, but you were so gracious, so kind, that you just stood back, and, and..." My voice trailed off as I choked on silent tears, trying not to let Hiro hear me sob.

I felt a reassuring hand on my shoulder. It wasn't even my sadness about Yukina's death that made me cry...it was the fact that Hiro and Mikari and Kazuma would all be missing a very big part of their lives. They would have to live with an emptiness that nothing could fill, and no amount of time would erase the pain. "It's okay to cry," someone whispered in my ear. "You don't have to be calllous all the time. It's alright to break down once in a while." I leaned into Hiro and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, rubbing my arm as I cried.

After a few minutes, we moved into a side room, and I tried to choke back my sobs. Whatever happened, I didn't want to make Hiro cry too. He was always strong, always had something to say that made everyone else feel better. "Emotions can't be held in forever, Ri," he told me, smiling with his now-glistening crimson eyes. They shimmered with unshed tears, but somehow, he didn't let them go. He didn't want to while I was there.

"But I don't want to make everyone else around me sad," I said quietly. "All I seem to do lately is make trouble for other people."

"But," Hiro said, looking me straight in the eye, "you're capable of so much more. Don't deny it."

I thought about that for a second. What was I capable of beside causing trouble? Wasn't I able to do something right rather than making everybody else feel bad about how unthankful I was? Scenes rushed through my mind, and I couldn't sort them out at all. The coffin containing my father, strewn with roses. Hiro's eyes, the girl by the river...what did it all mean? Why was I recalling memories I had never experienced before?

"I came home early because Mother heard that her very insane father had kidnapped me, and she didn't want that to happen again," I said. "Jakiri and Sakore came to rescue me because Jakiri is my mother's closest friend, and Sakore was closely tied to my father at some point. Even Hiei came to save me, but he was so reluctant, and I was such a burden on them all. I could barely fight, and they took care of the fake in a matter of seconds." Right after I finished my rant, I burst out crying again, and Hiro comforted me, whispering soothing words in my ear.

The wake had ended by eight, and me and Hiro were still sitting up against the wall together. Finally, I could hear Kazuma walking past, into Mikari's room. She had to have been hit hard by her own mother's death. The two of them had shared something of a telepathic bond when they were together, and Mikari had never liked to stray far from her mother for too long. Though I wanted to see if she was okay, I didn't want to interrupt the two who had been most affected.

"Will you be alright?" Hiro asked, turning to face me. "I think Dad wants the guests gone pretty soon, but you can call me if something's still bothering you." I nodded my head silently, meaning that I would be fine, and Hiro squeezed my hand, which had been firmly in his grip.

"Keiryi?" Mother called, and I came to answer her. It was time to go home.

The time for tears had passed, and I knew I should have been able to move on. But the look in Hiro's eyes as he left me was unbearable. Had it been possible to steal away his sorrows and his hidden pain, I would have done so. Whenever I called and asked him if he was okay though, he always responded heartily, with something like, "Yeah, Ri, I'll be fine. Why wouldn't I?"

That night, in my dreams, I saw him again for the first time in a while. I wasn't sure why he came to me that night, but I was glad that he was there, no matter why he had come...

**A/N- And there she blows...the cliffie. Yeah, short chappie, but I didn't want to run over too much. This sort of ends the first stage of MRII, so now we get to move into the really good stuff. Yay! Later!**

**Peace Out,**

**Miari**


	12. Time Flies By

_Imrenna led me down the usual passageway, and I was there, in that dark room. "Have you figured out what to do to bring me back yet?" he questioned gently. _

_"No," I replied, confused. "I don't understand how I can help you."_

_"Find that part of you that will draw me back," he instructed, "that part in both yourself and your mother." I caught a faint scent, sweet and beautiful, but I couldn't quite place it._

_"Who are you anyway?" I asked._

_"If I tell, I won't be allowed to return." I sighed. This was how it always seemed to be when I visited this man. He would say something, and his words would be forced to remain shrouded in mystery._

_"I want to know you," I confided sadly, leaning against the strong chest I knew so well. "You make me feel like I'm at home, and I don't think I've felt that way for a very long time." He choked for a moment, and then I felt something warm and wet fall into my lap. "Are you...crying?" I asked, trying to look into his eyes for the first time. But everything faded into darkness as my mind and body both awakened..._

That was the last I saw of him for a while, and after a year, he had been pushed to the back of my mind. I started high school, kept my old friends, and made some new ones. The Kuwabara family moved out of their old house and into one that was within walking distance of mine. Because of this new change, I ended up spending a lot of time talking with Hiro after school. Usually, Mikari was upstairs in her room, too focused on homework to pay attention to any conversation that I tried to start.

Kazuma rarely came over except when Mother thought I had gone to bed. Then they talked about their lost loved ones, and I would think about what my father would have been like. Dressed in a white t-shirt and blue sweatpants, I once walked downstairs to eavesdrop, later telling Mother that I had been coming down to get a glass of water. She just sighed heavily and sent me off to bed.

In June of my sophomore year, Jakiri and Terry got married, much to our excitement. There were so many white roses at the wedding that Mother cried, and although I didn't know why, I assumed it was because of happiness. Jakiri smiled at me and let me hug her in her beautiful wedding dress. Her beautiful, long, blonde hair was combed straight down, and dark makeup made her blue eyes look like they belonged on a precious, lifelike doll. The dress was a halter dress that was made entirely of white satin. It shimmered like the sun, and though simple, it was one of the most beautiful dresses I had ever seen.

One year later, Mikari left school and home behind, and no one heard from her for a while afterward. Hiro spent most of his time with me in my junior year, and that was when we started dating officially. The girls who were supposed to be my friends laughed at me because I was a full three inches taller, but we enjoyed each other's company nonetheless. He confided everything in me, since Mikari was gone and his father spent most of his time at work. His spirit fed off of being with me, and I was glad to keep the Kuwabara laughter alive.

My senior year was when everything started to get more turbulent once more. Mother was in the kitchen, preparing dinner. I heard the steady sound of the vegetables being chopped, and then a deafening scream. I dashed into the kitchen, and saw my beautiful, healthy mother clutching her arm desperately. Blood poured from a wound on her wrist, and the towel she pressed over it quickly turned black with blood.

"Mother!" I screamed, running forward to look at the wound.

It would have been superficial if not for the place where it had been inflicted. This was an incision on a main artery in her wrist. I took a fresh dishrag and tied it around Mother's wrist. "What did you do?" I asked, choking back tears as I hoped that she would be alright.

"I'm sorry, Keiryi," she said. "I just couldn't stop thinking about him. His memory lingers in my head every moment. For seventeen years, I have worn the ring he gave me, this beautiful craft." When she showed it to me, I gasped. It was gold, with inlaid roses weaving ever-so-intricately around that lovely band.

"I thought you two were never married," I said, stunned that she had waited this long to tell me the whole truth.

"We weren't," Mother replied. "He gave this to me a short while before he died." She broke into tears, and I tried so hard to comfort her. It just wasn't possible to heal such old wounds that were still open, though. She wanted him so deeply, and I wished with all my heart that he could be there to make her happy again, to give me the father I had never had.

"So what did you do?" I asked. "Did your hand slip?"

"No," she said. "I want to end it all...the pain, the suffering. What if I didn't have to deal with it anymore? I thought I could just end my own life instead of making you watch me." My eyes went wide with shock as my mother's bright eyes dissolved in tears once more. I didn't know what to do, but she wanted to be alone for a while. Within a few minutes, I heard her talking on the phone with Yusuke.

There was only one place I could think of to go in such a time of crisis. I hadn't been there since childhood, and it was the very place that had whispered strange things in my ear. Now it was time to go and see what those whisperings said to do about my mother.

My feet carried me as quickly as I could, and by the time I got to the lake, I was panting heavily. Night was quickly falling, and thin mists gathered about the surface of the water. "I want him to return," I pleaded. "I want Mother to be happy, and I want to be able to live again. I know you have whispered in my ear before, so open up and tell me how to bring him back!" My eyes filled with tears, I put my hands together and pleaded to no one in all my loneliness.

I was desperate, and as the winds picked up, my eyes glistened with hope. I could feel something happening, but when I turned around, no one was there to greet me. Upon surveying the entire boundary of the lake, I couldn't even glimpse any signs of life beside myself and the trees. If I couldn't have him back, then no one could have me. I stepped up to the edge of the cliff overlooking the water and slowly began to tip myself over the edge...

**A/N--And that would be the end of chappie 12! Hope you like it.**

**Peace Out,**

**Miari**


	13. Long Time, No See

I was falling forward at a painfully slow rate, but suddenly, a firm hand caught mine in his. "Leaving so soon?" a smooth voice called, and I saw him, hardened by years of trials that I could never imagine.

"Father," I breathed, stunned by his presence.

"Yes," he said, "that's right. So, what is your name, anyhow?" For a split second, I forgot my own name, but then it all came back to me.

"I'm Keiryi," I whispered. "I...I'm Katie's daughter."

"No," he corrected. "You're my daughter."

The moon had come now, and it shone brighter than all the stars in the sky combined. "Where have you been?" I asked. "Were you--?"

"Yes," he replied gently. "I was. I have been in the Plane of Luminescence, and Fehreil thought to destroy his small group of archrivals by eliminating me from the picture. Your strong want to have me back saved us all, though, or so it appears." He put an arm around my shoulders and let me lean my head against him.

"I can't believe what I missed out on," he mused, looking down at me. "My own little girl...all grown up now."

By the light of the moon, I could see the unmistakable red hair, and the dazzling green eyes. This man looked young, almost god-like. How could he be my father?

"How do I know that you're really my father?" I demanded, becoming slightly more skeptical. After all, my father would have been much older, and this man had the appearance of a teenager.

"If it's about my appearance," he replied, gazing at me coolly with those eyes, "then you should know that demons age much better than humans do. We live for hundreds of years, even more in some cases."

"I just find it hard to believe," I said absently, looking down at the water. Had I really been so far gone that I was willing to go there?

"Well, what's happened since I've been gone?" Father asked me. "I've been in the dark for so long that it feels odd being able to see. I knew that a child made of such a beautiful love would be this pretty." All I could do was blush. Even if he barely looked older than me, my father had the talent of a well-aged poet. Was this how he had won my mother over? Of course, he had probably had to do some resisting on his part, but that didn't mean he was totally incapable of putting up a good defense.

"A lot," I began, trying to sort through what I would want to know if I were in his place. "Kazuma and Yukina got married a long time ago, and they had twins...Hiro and Mikari." I cringed inwardly. The pained look I wore at the mention of Mikari's name was almost impossible to miss. Once we'd been good friends, but then she got mad at Hiro and me. Now, Hiro daily told me how worried he was that his only sister might be dead in some ditch. "I used to hang out with both of them a lot, but now I'm dating Hiro."

"How old are you?" Father asked, all too seriously for me to ignore it.

"Eighteen," I replied. "Anyhow, Yukina...passed away a few years back." That hurt coming out. Yeah, I'd grieved for her, but I'd never known her very well, and I could barely comprehend how much she had meant to both her children.

"Mother knew why Yukina died," I continued, "but she didn't want to tell me, because...well, she didn't want me to be scared. Hiei helped me train for a little while, and I found my darling grandfather." I wanted to put some sarcasm into those words and lighten the mood, but it came across as a rather lifeless statement. "Whatever else has been happening, Mother's been keeping me in school whenever she can. She loves me, and I only wish you could have come back sooner to see just how desperate she is for you." Even though this was a serious matter, he smiled warmly, and led me toward a different house than the one we lived in.

While we walked together in silence, I looked up into his emerald eyes that were a perfect reflection of mine. They were the same shade of green, and they had the same depth to them that many had commented on when looking at me. Tall and slender, but still well-built, he looked like someone who had mastered the martial arts, and there was an ease in the way that he walked. It spoke of something that lay beneath the surface. Deep down, there was a fierce demon waiting to break loose. Most often, I had seen this latent power in Mother, but it was there in Hiro and Mikari too, though it seemed a little different for the Kuwabara twins.

"Is she alive?" he asked. "It's been a long eighteen years."

"Yes," I replied. "She still lives here, surrounded by images of her beloved little boy Shuichi. Mother left here a long time ago. She told me that it was too much pain to bear--she was always surrounded by the emptiness that your absence left, and some days, she would tell me the story of how you proposed to her. At first, I believed it to be made-up, but after all that's happened...I know it's true."

"Then she still has the ring," Father continued. "To think that she held out for so long. I knew her will was strong, but..."

Shiori Minamino's house was getting old and kind of worn down. She lived here alone, and even her new husband and her stepson couldn't compensate for the boy she had borne. Nobody visited her anymore because we all thought she was reluctant to be reminded of the only child she could ever love as her own. That very son opened the door and walked in, though, finding only Shiori. There she was, fondling a picture of her son. There was something different about it though. His eyes in that picture seemed such a bright shade of green. Looking up at him, I saw a new wisdom, and a hardness in his eyes that would stay there forever. How much damage had his stay in that plane really done?

"Shuichi?" Shiori said when she saw her son seated beside her. I took a seat in a very comfortable armchair. "Keiryi? You haven't been over here in years!" She looked different too. The grey hair pulled back in a bun had begun to develop several white streaks, and there were circles and sags in places where I didn't remember them.

"Hi...Grandma," I finished awkwardly. "We didn't mean to stop coming for so long, but..."

"Don't mind that, Keiryi," Shiori assured me. "All that matters is that you're both here. Shuichi, I don't care if you're a ghost. You're home where you belong now!"

Father enveloped his surrogate mother in a warm embrace, and I sat in my chair, feeling sort of left-out. Me and Mother had hugged before, but we'd never been this comfortable with each other. Shiori was willing to believe so readily that he was back without thinking that she was just hallucinating. Was this the sort of love that had escaped me my entire life? Why had I never been able to feel that warm and safe around Mother?

Shiori held her arms wide open to me and I rushed forward to return the gesture. She hugged me tight and ran a hand down my falls of red hair. "You've grown so tall," she commented absently. "Just like your father...and how is your mother?"

"She'll be alright," I smiled, and let Shiori hold me for a little while longer. I knew that once she saw this surprise, my mother would be more than alright. All that pining and all the pain that had racked her soul...it would finally be fulfilled.

"Sorry, Mother," Father said sadly, "I haven't been home in a while, and I want to see Katie. It's been a long time." He looked nervous about that part. To some extent, I understood why. What if he came back and she had completely betrayed him? What if someone else had captivated her heart? I knew none of this had happened, though. The pictures of him were still there. Now she kept them all in a large cardboard box. For such a short time together, they sure had a lot of pictures. To me, it was just more proof of their undying love, and I couldn't wait to see it blossom once more. "I'll be back, Mother," he said, and they exchanged hugs and kisses before we walked out the door.

"Lead the way, Keiryi," he said, smiling down at me like a proud father. We walked out into our neighborhood, where I held so many fond childhood memories. Outside the Kuwabara house, Kazuma was mowing the lawn in jeans and a white tanktop. His carrot-top hair had grown out a little bit, and the shadow of a beard covered his face.

"Kurama?" he said in shock, just loud enough for me to hear. Father stopped and smiled.

"Long time, no see, eh Kuwabara?" he replied. "It's nice to be back among friends."

"But I was at your funeral, and I saw Katie there by your coffin...you...you died." Fumbling for words, Kazuma's mouth hung open and then he just hugged my father tight.

Just after they broke apart, I saw Hiro's head poking out of the door. "Hey, Dad!" he called. "What's all the commotion about?" Kazuma was too much in awe to answer, so I cut in despite the warning look from my father.

"Hiro, this is my father," I said formally. "He just returned from a very long absence."

"Are you really all my uncle says you are?" Hiro asked, his eyes coming alive with admiration. "Did you really save the world with my dad?"

"That's one way to put it," Father replied, putting a hand behind his head a little awkwardly.

"Father," I continued, "this is Hiro. Hiro Kuwabara."

His keen green eyes focused on Hiro, Father shook hands, and smiled.

"Keiryi told me about you," he said. "Nice to meet you."

Already I could see the conflict rising between the two, so we said our good-byes and walked the short distance to our house. This was it, the time when I would get to surprise Mother more than anyone else ever had before. "I can't believe I'm back already," Father said, taking a deep breath before knocking on the door. It swung open slowly, and instead of my mother, we saw Jakiri, a very shocked and slightly irritated Jakiri.

**A/N-Cliffie time! I decided to continue, and here is what so many people have been wondering about since chapter one of this and about chapter 14 of the prequel. Yes, he's back, and I bet you're all going to hurt me for this cliffhanger. However, it is my pleasure to announce that Miari is officially reporting back for active duty...for about the third time(if you've seen Silent Mobius all the way thru, you'll get it...)**

**Peace Out**

**Miari**


	14. Contamination

Jakiri's irritated expression held for a while, and then she motioned inward, toward the couch. "I think you'll want to sit down for a while before you hear the news." Father quirked an eyebrow at her and then led me over to the couch, where we sat down together.

"So what is it?" he asked impatiently. "As you can guess, I've been gone for a very long time, and I want to see her soon." Jakiri looked down at her feet and then hesitated. That couldn't be good. What was she going to tell us that we didn't want to hear?

"This afternoon, your mother fell rather ill," Jakiri began, her eyes still cast down at the floor. "Yuki examined her and said that it doesn't seem to be anything foreign, but it's quite potent, and we don't know what will happen to her." Father was aghast, and I couldn't do anything but stare at Jakiri. What great timing this had been. First the incident with the knife, and now a mysterious virus, just like...just like what Yukina had had. Of course, that had occurred a while ago, but it was still a possibility. What was this disease that it could take over someone like my mother so suddenly?

A lump rose in my throat, but I made a point to ignore it. If I couldn't be strong, how could I help find a solution? Hiei said I had some sort of power hiding within me, so I would be able to help, wouldn't I? "May I go in and see her?" Father asked, ignoring everything that Jakiri had just explained to us. He stood up and started walking over to the door without waiting for a reply. Curious as ever, I got up to peer in the door that was open. What I saw there was terrible. I didn't want it to happen. I didn't want her life to fade away into obscurity like Yukina's had.

"Mother!" I cried, running over to her bed. The small, green-haired woman gave me a dangerous look, but all I could focus on at the time was my mother's face, and the look that it bore.

"There's still time if you two are ready to go now," the woman cut in.

"Yuki," Father began sternly, "I'll go. Keiryi can stay here with her mother."

"I think you'll need some help if you're going to defeat the source of something this big," Yuki said sharply. "Bring Keiryi. Jakiri can attend to her master for a short while. That's all you have, honestly, before the disease takes over like it did with Yukina."

For a split second, I could see something close to affection in Yuki's eyes, but then her mannerisms became completely businesslike again. She turned to Mother and laid her hands on her head. "Tell me what it is, Kaiina," she said. "You know it...I can tell. This body isn't quite as sharp as it was, but this is like a blaring beacon. Come on, Kaiina." Mother groaned, and whispered something under her breath.

"Ma...in...Ma..."

"Alright then," Father said. "I suppose we'll need something quick to get us there Yuki."

"I'm exhausted, Kurama," she said irritably. "I still need to care for Kaiina. Ask Jakiri." He sighed and kissed Mother briefly on the cheek.

Outside, on the couch, Jakiri was waiting patiently for our return. "We need a portal back home," Father demanded. "Enough pouting, Jakiri. We just need to get there." Reluctant though she was, she took us behind the house, where no one would see past the large trees.

"Keiryi," Jakiri said, grasping one of my shoulders gently. "I wish you the best of luck. Though you may not feel it, you've grown in the past few years. You may be ready to surpass him."

"Who-?" Rather than answer my question, Jakiri conjured up a portal of blinding white light. It was wide open, and before I could say anything to protest, Father dragged me through and into a very dark place.

Once we had gone through, the portal vanished, and I stopped to look around at this grove. Though I'd never been here, it seemed familiar. Something about the air made me feel more alive than I ever had before. "Where are we?" I ventured to ask.

"Hell's Grove," he replied absently, walking forward. "Somebody's been awaiting our arrival."

Who? I wondered to myself. Could it be Fehreil again? The thought of looking into those deep, dark, unfeeling eyes once more sent chills through my whole body, and I hoped with all I had that it wouldn't happen. "I don't know how to fight," I admitted sheepishly. "Hiei was supposed to teach me, but..."

"It's alright," Father replied. "I'll protect you." For a moment, I let out a short laugh. Sure, I knew there were demons and apparitions in my life, but I never thought I'd be on this insane battlefield, fighting for someone else's life.

The demon inside me was slowly rising to the occasion. She was fighting to get out and fight instead of hiding behind someone else. This was nobody's fight but her own. Soon, something moved in the bushes, and my father was off like a shot. I did my best to follow him through trees and thorns, under hard, thick branches, through knee-deep, muddy water. This was a side of Father I'd never seen before. He was a fierce hunter now, one who would fly after his prey for the thrill of the hunt alone.

At the edge of the forest, we stopped, and there was a tall, lean girl. Her dark blue hair was up in a bun, and she stared my father down with icy blue eyes. "Atsura," Father spat, brandishing a rose. "I guessed you'd still be on my tail. Nothing better to do, hm?"

"There's money in it for me," Atsura replied, "and control. Not to mention the greatest satisfaction of all." She paused and a frightening, hungry look came over her face. "I'll get to watch your daughter suffer while you die very slowly. I can see the look on your face now." She laughed heartily, a cold, heartless roar.

"You don't have me yet," Father replied, and his rose turned into a long, thorny whip that coiled around his feet. It sprang to life, though, and flew at the girl, wrapping her in thorns.

"A little pain feels good every once in a while," Atsura said, smiling demonically. "You'll see." She flickered out and appeared behind him, throwing a punch at his head. Father ducked and swiped at her ankles with his leg. Bouncing back up, Atsura pulled a short dagger out from her coat.

"The fox is finally going to die!" she screamed in horrific excitement. "You're MINE!"

He smiled softly, closed his eyes, and let the whip fly. It stayed true to its course, and simply regrew where Atsura tried to cut it down. Finally, she was impaled upon it. "Give up already," Father said gravely. "I don't want to kill my greatest rival." Such a hardness in my father scared me. Could I trust him if he could be this cold when angry? The demon said that he was being the perfect enemy, teasing but unyielding.

"No," I whispered almost silently. "I don't want to feel that cold...that empty...I want to know love...I want to live and breathe it." Inside, the demon laughed, and I cried. But on the outside, the two were still there, Atsura impaled on the thorny whip, and my father threatening her with a stony look on his face.

"I missed chasing you," Atsura admitted. "I guess the pain relieves me. It lets me know that I'll be alive a while longer. Just kill me now. Let me relish the pain while I still can."

"You twisted soul," Father said scornfully. "On the outside you can fight, but you're so hungry within that it makes you pathetic. You don't even deserve to die. That would be too long a reprieve." The whip stirred, and she screamed, smiling at the same time. When it jerked itself out, tears ran down her face, but she was still smiling.

"Pain!" she cried rapturously. "My redemption!"

While she screamed, Atsura slowly began to shrivel away into thin air. "Farewell...Atsura," Father said, turning around to make sure I was alright. My whole body shook with fear of what he could do. How could my own father, the man my mother had loved, be such a cold-hearted killer? What had she loved in him so much if he could be so heartless?

"I'll be alright," I assured him. "Why did you know her? Where did she come from?"

"Those questions are for another time," Father answered firmly. Now he was the caring parent once more. "Now we must continue our search. Atsura may have been obsessed about catching me, but she never took offers from small clients. I'm sure that her employer will strike at us again. We just have to keep going for now."

"Okay," I said, and we started walking away from the forest and toward the crimson-streaked walls of the castle.

Just thinking of Fehreil's palace gave me chills. At such a young age, he'd wanted me to be his tool, and I was glad they'd come to rescue me. Otherwise, I'd have been a lonely prisoner, and a fatherless prisoner at that. Looking up into my father's eyes made me realize something, though. Even if he had the capability to be a cold killer, he also had the capability to be a husband, a lover, a father, and a friend. In the little time we had been together, I had seen someone who cared for those around him. When he embraced Shiori, he was completely sincere, and the way he looked at my mother spoke of his deep affection for her.

The walk was long and hard, but we swerved away from the castle. We walked toward a place covered in vines and other plants. Long abandoned, it looked like it had once been a mansion. Now, it was more like a haunted house. "What is that?" I asked, squinting in the hope of discerning the actual color of the walls through all the green and brown.

"That's where I first met your mother," Father replied with a smile that betrayed his longing to be with her again. If I was a loving person like he was, I would have said something to try and assure him. However, I just shut up like usual and let the awkward silence hold its own.

Just as I had expected, we walked inside to see ruined furniture, but there were a few things intact. "You can sleep down the hall here," Father said, leading me down a very narrow passageway. We seemed to be going into a basement of sorts, and the walls shifted from patchy wood to solid stone. Whoever had made this place was a master craftsman.

"Why so far down?" I asked, looking around at the ominous ceiling. "Doesn't it get colder down here?"

"You'll be fine," he replied. "It'll be harder to find you down here though. Just don't leave your room unless I come for you."

The room was even colder and less welcoming than the hallway that led to it. Nondescript stone walls didn't give way to a single window, and the bed looked hard and uncomfortable at best. With a soft chuckle, I thought of it as a prison cell. There was a little hole in the door where the guards would slip in my meager rations, and over by the bed was a small nightstand, upon which I imagined a basin for washing my hands. "I have to go do some other things," Father said gently, getting down on my level. "I'll try and be back as soon as I can though."

He was turning to leave, but for once, I called out to him, albeit a pathetic yelp at best. "Wait," I cried meekly. "Father, I...I don't want you to go. You haven't been in my life for eighteen years, and now you're just going to leave me here alone? Please, I don't want to lose you, and I don't think Mother wants to lose you again." At the mention of my mother, his eyes softened, and he wrapped his strong arms around my tall, willowy frame.

"You've grown up," he said, stroking my hair. "And I'm so sorry to have missed it all, but I must go attend to matters that pertain to your safety. Stay here, and I promise I'll come back before the second sunset. If this promise is broken, leave. I'll find you again."

I stared up into those emotional emerald eyes and smiled warmly. Something coursed through me, and I knew that this was what it must feel like. He loved me, and he was going to do what it took to preserve my life. Was this the kind of love that I'd been missing all my life? Had I really been hungering for a father's love, rather than the feeling in general? "Alright," I said sheepishly. "I...I love you, Father. Don't get yourself killed."

**A/N-Yay, I've had a nice little streak of typing until midnight or so, and as a result, I wasn't in bed until one last night. Part of the reason was that my friend told me Inuyasha, which I haven't seen in a long time, would be on at 12:30, so I just snuck down at twelve. There was a weird show with a mad professor and what looked like a rubber chicken, so I went back upstairs in our creepily creaky house. If you're ever downstairs in my house in the dark,you'd better not have too vivid an imagination. Oh well, otherwise I couldn't write characters like Atsura, who even creeped me out that I could come up with stuff like that. Love to anybody who chooses to review, and I think I get a cookie for coming back after all this time!**

**Peace Out,**

**Miari**


	15. The Floor Was Littered With Roses

**Katie's POV**

Soft shades of blue and a glaring white blurred my vision. In the distance, I could make out some faint shapes. However, the voices rang all too clearly through my head. "When will they get back?" Yuki pondered, to herself it seemed.

"It doesn't look like she'll have long to live," Jakiri said worriedly. "Is there anything you can do to fend it off?"

"This is the same thing that took Yukina," Yuki said grimly. "It has a source, and unless they destroy the source, she'll be taken."

"I couldn't stand to lose her," Jakiri said forlornly. "Neither could he. The way he looked at her when he came over.."

The rest became too faint for me to hear. Instead, I looked within, and tried to find out what had invaded my body like this. Yukina had been a little timid about looking back at her past, but I knew everything there was to confront. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Everything was in the right place as my eyes closed again. Images of him floated to the surface. That was just my heart, though. It had been torn to shreds when he left, and I doubted I could ever love that way again.

Not too long after my eyes closed, I felt sleep come upon me. Whatever was there taxed my spirit energy more than anything ever had before. I was so crippled that I couldn't even summon a tiny vine anymore. Or was it the fact that my grief had also forced me to settle down and stop fighting. No longer was I the well-muscled, underfed girl I'd been back then. Back when we'd met, and we'd rolled around on the floor like nobody was watching.

_It didn't turn out to be the pretty thing I hoped for,_ I thought to myself._ I thought that our love would make my life perfect, but it didn't._ Inwardly, I smiled. That was how everything had turned out for me, and I was slowly learning to live with it. I'd started to fall in love with him, then he died. After he came back, he sacrificed his life to save me and left me on the brink of being his wife. Maybe we just weren't destined to be together.

With sleep came dreams, and mine hadn't been quite that haunted in a long time. Since Lirra died, I hadn't dreamt or entered the Plane of Luminescence. I let myself slip away into what could have been the greatest euphoria or the most hellish nightmare...

_I sat in our living room with Kurama on the couch next to me. Keiryi was on the big armchair that she always liked, her long legs tucked in beside her. "What have you been doing lately?" she asked. "All I heard was...was that you had a baby. Congratulations." Even though she was saying the words, her heart wasn't in it. The look in her green eyes spoke of something that was missing. Had we failed to satisfy her while growing up?_

_"Thank you," Kurama said graciously, smiling genuinely. "How's your husband? I heard he got a new job." I had to stop my eyes from going wide at this point. How could Keiryi have gotten married without my knowledge? Kurama's arm snaked its way around my shoulders and I sank into him. Blind comfort never felt so good. The cut was gone from my arm, and Keiryi had cut her hair short. Her green eyes were more alive than they had ever been before._

_Suddenly, all of this disappeared, and I was on top of my love, trying to stop him from bleeding to death. "Don't leave," I sobbed from deep within me. After seeing him next to me like that, I didn't want to have to live without his touch. "I'm nothing without you. Lirra...was right."_

_"Don't listen to her lies," he said, reaching up slowly to caress my cheek. "You're...stronger than you believe you'll ever be. You'll live on without me...and you'll...you'll be hap..." His voice trailed off and I listened at his chest as that strong heartbeat faded into nothing. Each of those last heartbeats clung to my mind, though, resounding in all the emptiness his death had already left to fill._

_The ring was on my finger, and I stood in the cathedral that I had been to so many times before. Rose petals littered the floor, and I saw Lirra in all her beautiful perfection. Perfect blonde hair poured down her back in voluminous waves, and her deep blue eyes were entrancing, if you didn't know what lay behind them. "I'm glad to see you again," she said. "My failure was unfortunate, and my master wasn't very happy. However, he gave me a second chance."_

_"Nice to see you again too," I spat. She was the one responsible for his death. Fondling a rose petal in her hands, she enclosed it in her palms and a rose appeared between her fingers._

_"Such rudeness coming from the child he holds so valuable," she said quizzically. "Don't you know anything? Don't you want to uphold your breeding?"_

_"I was a fortunate mistake," I said coldly. "There is no status that comes with how i was bred."_

_"He started out as a pauper you know," Lirra continued. "He must have felt so lucky to have fallen in with royalty like yourself."_

_"Love dictated us, and you tried to tear that to shreds," I screamed. "You should feel all the pain I've suffered for him, all the nights I've spent alone while my daughter is able to find some sort of love! You took away the thing I treasured most!" An orb of white light formed in the palm of my hand, growing rapidly._

_For reasons I couldn't comprehend, the white orb blinked out. Lirra laughed heartily at me, and I fell to my knees, considerably weakened. "Silly child," she said. "Doesn't it make sense yet? When you were born, he planted this virus in you. He fought Yukina and infected her. Once life overcame the two of you, it came upon you like lightning. How can the younger generation fight if there's no one to teach them?"_

_"There's Hiei," I said, panting. "And Yusuke, and Kazuma. They'll all do it."_

_"And they'll all be dead soon. Face the facts, my lovely Kaiina. We're going to take over, and punish all of you for what you've done to the demon race. Traitors, all of you. Too bad he couldn't have inflicted you sooner." All of this was said so calmly that I was standing there in shock. How could this be? Was the desire for revenge really that great?_

_"So then," I began, regaining my composure, "you're saying that the one behind all of this is..."_

_"That's right, and he's going to take control very soon. You'll regret betraying your own family."_

I awoke and sat up bolt upright. In my complete and utter disorientation, I was even startled to see Yuki standing at the edge of my bed. "I know the source," I told her hurriedly. "I can help them save the world from a terrible fate!"

"No," Yuki said gently. "You're not even ready to get out of bed yet. We'll have to send a messenger."

"Whatever you can do," I said, feeling the fatigue overcome me.

"Whatever you say, Kaiina-chan." And then I faded away into a dreamless darkness...

**A/N-Sorry it's short, but I don't want anyone to learn too much in one sitting. Yes, it's back to my favorite little made-up world. Okay. Honestly, I don't know if anyone's reading anymore, but this is all going somewhere. I hereby swear that I will try my hardest to finish this story. It's really not all that close to being done, though, and I've saved another great shocker for the end. No, Kurama doesn't die, and for those who loved MR1, Lirra doesn't get banished to the pits of hell. Now that that's cleared up...**

**Peace Out,**

**Miari**


	16. Reversion

**Jakiri's POV**

My mistress was lying in her bedroom, groaning as she battled a disease that couldn't be defeated unless we found the source. Kurama had taken off to investigate, and he had taken Keiryi with him. Sakore was shocked to find that one of his best friends was back from the dead. However, that hadn't taken his attention off of me. We'd only been married a few years, and the passion thrived in both our souls.

Those first few years of marriage had foretold a great future together. When we'd first met, he expressed an interest in me. Only eighteeen years had passed since he saw me at the grave. I'd been sitting on the grass, roses laid out on his tombstone. When I gazed at that tombstone, I remembered the look of anguish when my mistress first realized that he was really dead. The famous fox, Kurama, had finally been defeated.

Visiting the grave was even hard for me, although I'd been thoroughly annoyed by the fox when he was alive. He'd stolen the attention of the only person I ever trusted completely, but I could remember the look of happiness on her face when she was with him. They were meant for each other, and my less spiteful side wanted them to be together instead of undergoing this anguish. A few lonesome tears fell on the ground. How could I have let Ithryl use me like that?

"Why?" I demanded of the world. "Why did you have to take him away?"

"Because nothing in this world is forgiving enough to leave them together," a faraway voice said. Smooth and sophisticated, it sounded just like him...the one I'd been with for a night. Sakore. My experimental lover.

"What are you doing here?" I asked irritably, wishing to be alone. "I thought you abandoned the gang after he died."

"Wrong," he said. "I tried to keep us together, but they wanted to disband themselves. I left Makai because..."

"What!" I shouted, standing bolt upright. My light blonde hair formed several thin lines across my vision, and helped to hide the tears. "Did you want to take his lover now that he's gone? You don't understand what she's gone through, and if you touch her, I'll..."

"You'll what?" he spat back. "I was hoping you'd be a little more welcoming."

"I'll make you sorry you ever let your desires get out of control."

"That's not what I came for," he stated gravely. "None of the others would understand what I longed for after that one night. I longed to be near that shining diamond, the power that lies within you. I don't know if that's all that drives it, but it's eating at me like a hunger. I couldn't live after experiencing being so close to something so immense."

My mouth hung open, and everything came crashing down. Sakore had only been in it for the thrill back then, and that was all he wanted now, but there seemed to be something more to his words than what showed. "I am only a servant," I said stonily. "Why would I have so much within me?"

"You're the last of the Iceshadow clan, are you not?" Sakore replied.

"Yes. My father taught me how to fight, and my mother taught me self-control. I was branded by the clan, a child of the darkest depths of Makai."

Even now, my childhood stood out against everything else I'd experienced. My parents had done those very things with me, and then they'd left me. They said that there was no longer any need for the protection that the Iceshadow clan provided. My father told me that Fehreil had become a bloodthirsty, arrogant warlord, and that I couldn't serve him. Outraged at the betrayal of such a long-lasting alliance, I ran away, to the surface.

Instead of going to the palace, though, I stopped in Hell's Grove. Apparently, Fehreil had a daughter, and she had been born there. For a while, I remained there, until Fehreil found me. "So you're the Iceshadow dragon...the one that belongs to me," he said, kicking me to the ground. "I've been waiting for you so."

"I'm not here to serve you," I replied quietly. "I heard of your daughter. The one born here, and..."

"Shut up about that filthy little mongrel!" Fehreil shouted, and punched me so hard that I felt my chest cave a little.

After Fehreil insulted his daughter, though, the ground began to shake, and I heard whispers from everywhere. _Be careful what you say, Fehreil. You forget whose territory this is,_ they said._ Leave, and never treat one of the Iceshadow clan so poorly again._ He grit his teeth together and stalked away, furious at the voice.

"Thank you," I whispered, and a girl came out from behind the bushes.

"I'm sorry," she said. Her dark hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, and her golden eyes shone with the brightness of youth. "My father...he does the same to me sometimes too."

My first reaction was to bow before my master, the heir to the throne of Makai. "I have come from the depths to serve you," I stated with conviction. "My name is Jakiri, of the Iceshadow dragons. Your wish is my--"

"No," the girl said. "I don't want servants. That would make me like my father, and I want to live more simply than that. I don't want to be as cruel a leader as he is."

"Then would my lady honor me with so little as a name?" I asked, still oblivious to the fact that she had totally rejected me.

"Kaiina," she said. "Just Kaiina. Not Kaiina Mowvinh El Shaddar. Not Kaiina Lothlen."

With what she said, Kaiina could just as well have been denouncing her title as royalty. I was determined to fill my place in the world, though. "May I be your friend?" I asked. "A friend who will confide in you and keep you from harm?" She freely accepted, and I smiled, satisfied that I'd finally found my place.

Anyhow, in the graveyard, the two of us stared each other down. Finally, Sakore smiled and said, "You are an Iceshadow dragon. Legends speak of the great power hidden within the depths of a dragon's soul. I believe that when we're together,that power comes out. It makes you one of the most fearsome beings in this world."

"I told you," I said flatly, "I'm just a servant, and that's all I'll ever be. Quit wasting your time." Sakore approached, and I shook my head.

"I guess I'm just as foolish and stubborn as your mistress," he said with a warm smile. "Maybe this will change your mind."

He kissed me, and it was like something was swallowing me up. Rain began to pour, and my golden hair was plastered to my neck. In the front, I could see strands of pure white returning once again. Pure as fresh-fallen snow. "I want you," he said, "and nothing else is more intoxicating." I ran a hand down his neck, snaking down to his waist.

"Don't tell me silly things like that," I breathed heavily. "Actions speak louder than words."

We sat on the ground together, and soon he was lying on top of me, his mouth plastered to mine. A car pulled up on the curb, and we parted. "I'll be back, someday," he said. "We'll have even more fun then." I stood there in awe, and looked back at the roses on Kurama's tomb.

"He needs you to knock some sense into him," I said with a short chuckle, and then left. My mistress was still swollen and with child then, and I knew it was his. It had to be his.

Suddenly, an ear-piercing scream shocked me out of my reverie. It had to be my mistress. Dashing into the room, I saw her curled up in the bed, clutching her skull as she transformed into her demon form. I hadn't seen that beautiful, wild creature in a long time. She opened her eyes wide, and they were brilliantly golden once again. "Mistress?" I said in shock. There had never been such a savage look in her eyes even when we were common bandits. Struggling to overcome my fear, I approached her bed.

"Are you alright?" I asked with concern.

"I feel better than ever," she confessed. "Thanks for the boost, Yuki. Now it's time to go and eliminate them. They've kept me far too long." She smiled darkly and lunged at me, her hand pinning me to the wall and suffocating me at the same time. "Do you even remember what it's like to fight, Jakiri?" she asked. "You became soft when he tamed you...when you became a wife. Soon you'll fall into the weakness of a mother's love. Leave it all behind, and we'll take that power. We'll take it and rule all three worlds."

Vivid green energy enveloped my master, and pulled her away from me. "It's been growing!" Yuki shouted. "Go get Keiryi and Kurama! They need to get to him before Kaiina gets to them! Try and find Hiei, too. He can help." I nodded and scrambled to leave, but she broke free. My mistress was chasing after me, her eyes filled with the lust of an eager hunter.

It was the only thing I could do. Nobody else was on the street, and there was no other way out. Slowly, my golden hair vanished, and my skin was replaced with perfectly white scales. My sight became keener, and two long, pointed horns lay flat against my head. Wings as large as a playground spread out, and just as the thorns started to climb toward me, I was in the air, flying with all the strength in my body. A glistening portal opened up, and I slipped through, leaving her to rage at herself.

The demon world looked even more desolate than before as I streaked through, hoping that I could find them. Instead, there was the figure of a tall, dark-haired woman standing where Hell's Grove was. Since that was a place to which Keiryi might have gravitated, I landed there, only to see that this woman was alone. "Welcome," she said softly. "If you are here to find them, they have already left. They know not where to go, but I am sure you know it already. I begged and I pleaded for him to leave her alone. Why couldn't he just kill the rest of them? However, this is the most cruel punishment he has forced on her yet."

My eyes were open wide as I stared at this woman. "You're Rhia, aren't you?" I said quietly, almost inaudibly. "I thought you died."

"Spirits don't die," Rhia said. "They live on, they haunt people, they guard their homes to the best of their ability, but they do not die." My wings folded in, and I shifted back to my original humanoid form. Snow white hair flowed freely down my back, and I wore my old kimono.

"I am so glad to meet you," I said, "but I need to know where to find him."

"He is in his castle, but there are many copies, with one controlling them all. You will have to know how to search for him. If Kaiina comes back...she will be drawn to him. Follow her when she comes here, and you will have him pinned."

I grinned at the thought of all of this being over. For so long, we'd all fought our personal battles, and now, a little peace was past due for everyone.

**Surprise, surprise! I bet you had it figured out anyway, but there you go. Chapter 16. I enjoyed writing it, even though no one reviewed again. Oh well. R&R, and love to those who reviewed this chapter or previous chapters. I'm waiting for the return of my avid fans.**


	17. Coming Home Again

**Mikari's POV**

Walking down the old street once more, I made sure no one else was there and sat down on the grass, looking up at our new house. Had my brother made love to Keiryi up on that bed, or had he kissed her senseless in that bedroom of his? Somehow, even though they were happy, I had a bad feeling about their relationship, and where it was going. Ever since we were kids, I'd known that Hiro felt as if he was especially close to Keiryi. Not until a few years ago, though, had I found out that the two of them were dating.

The last few years had been spent finding out who I really was, and who I was meant to be. At first, I didn't know where I was going, but then I realized that I needed space. I needed some time to think things through, and I couldn't do it at home. Not with the distraction of Hiro and Keiryi. Even though i wanted to see my brother happy, something told me that being in love with Keiryi would only break his heart. At such a young age, he'd said he loved her, and that love had held. Somehow, though, that love had been unable to keep me home.

First, I'd gone to my uncle Hiei, who was hanging around in a local forest. "What do you want?" he asked testily, his lean, wiry muscles tensing. "You shouldn't be here." Ever since Mother's death, Hiei and myself had only become closer because we both missed her that badly. He could be as mean to me as he liked, but I was kin, and somewhere deep inside, that meant something to him. Also, it might have been the fact that I looked completely like my mother.

"I saw what happened to Mother," I said. "I-I don't want that to happen to me too. Please, train me." He quirked an eyebrow as if I was crazy, and then laughed darkly.

"You don't want me to train you," he scoffed. "You'd die halfway through." That was Hiei. Brutally blunt, but one hundred per cent honest.

"Is there a way I can defend against it?" I asked. "Something to build an immunity to it...anything." He shot me a look that was telling me to go away and stop wasting his time. I stared up at him with her eyes, my mother's eyes.

For a moment, Hiei looked down, unsure of what to do. Then he looked straight up, and a third eye opened on his forehead, a vivid blue as opposed to his natural crimson eyes. "What on earth is that?" I asked, part curious and part afraid.

"It's called a Jagan," he stated flatly. "An eye that sees more than the surface." I suddenly had the feeling that I was being watched as that third eye stared at me hideously. "You don't have it," he said, "the disease. I'd know that anywhere after all the nights I felt it." I gazed in awe at his Jagan, and then he laughed haughtily. Even though we were at eye level, Hiei had this way of standing that made me feel extremely...inferior.

"Fine," I said calmly, "so you won't teach me. I still feel something coming, though. Very soon, dark times will come, and I want to be prepared. I'll find a way if you won't give me one."

"Wait up," Hiei called acidly. "If you want to be my apprentice so bad, then I'll do it. But don't say I didn't warn you." For a split second, I almost felt like hugging him, but I realized that would probably only worsen my situation.

"Thank you...sensei," I said with a smile. Even if I wasn't gifted with spirit powers like my father, I could still learn something.

The first day was probably the hardest of all. A short, skinny teenage girl, I barely had the strength to swing a sword. At one point I almost hacked off my high ponytail. "If you can't use the sword right away, then I guess we'll do some training," Hiei said coldly. One thing I learned quickly about him was that he didn't feel very much for the suffering of others. Only the night after Mother died had I seen him show any emotion. That was it...one single tear that turned into a glossy black stone.

"Okay," I said, and he came at me, going easy at first. For a whole hour, I parried his punches and did my best to run where I could. Hiei was shockingly quick though. Even if I trained for months, I wouldn't be able to beat him.

"Don't use your eyes," Hiei lectured, jumping up to knock me down again. "Use your hearing, your smell...use your eyes as little as possible." Groping for some sort of advantage, I jumped backward into an awkward somersault that left me feeling sore.

"It's shocking you even have any demon blood in you," he taunted. "You can do better."

It went on for a whole half-hour more before I slumped against a tree. Hiei decided to rest beside me, and I felt that creepy eye of his peering into my thoughts. There was only thing to find in my head, though...shards of what had once been. A long time ago, I had been telepathically bonded to my mother. When she died, though, that bond was broken into a thousand tiny pieces, and that was all that remained of me. All my memories were of her, and somehow I could feel that she haunted his memories too.

Finally, after five minutes of complete silence, I worked up the courage to ask him something I'd been wondering about since day one. "How did you get your Jagan?" I asked.

"Don't ask what's none of your business," Hiei said acidly, glaring at me with all three eyes.

"But...it doesn't look natural. Were you...were you born with it?"

"Hn." Whenever he started making noises like that, it was usually my cue to shut up and let him be. Sadly, I didn't feel like being the good pupil that day.

"C'mon," I said irritably. "I'm just about the only family you have left. You're not going to confide the family secrets in my dad. I know that much from what my mom told me."

"It was an implant for...personal reasons," he finished, and left me alone to go get our dinner. So that was it. That was all he was going to tell me, even though I was his favorite? For the rest of the time that I waited, it haunted me, and eventually I found myself in a very foul mood because of Hiei's secrecy.

"Quit being an impatient brat," he said dryly. "You'll learn what you need to, when you need to. There's a big battle coming, and I just met with Keiryi.

"Is she alright?" I asked immediately upon hearing Keiryi's name. Though I resented her relationship with Hiro, I didn't hate Keiryi. We'd always been very good friends. "Where is she now? Is she off fighting another battle?"

"Shut up and let me finish," Hiei commanded, and I stopped talking immediately. The one thing I had learned, if nothing else, was to always listen to Hiei when he took that tone of voice. It meant he was angry about something, and pushing his anger could have dire consequences.

"I met with Keiryi and her father in Makai," he began, squatting down next to our fire.

"But I thought Kurama was..."

"Circumstances have changed," Hiei continued, and fanned the fire before speaking again. "Kaiina is mortally ill, and we all know who caused it. Fehreil is striking yet again, and this time he plans to take her so Keiryi will be his. However, Keiryi and her father have gone into the forest to try and stop Fehreil in order to heal Kaiina. I am only restrained from helping by you. Hopefully you'll be little less ungrateful."

Rather than charging him, I kept my anger inside, where it was still totally visible. The void that had been left by my mother's death began to ache more than usual at the lack of compassionate company. Hiei had been a great training master, but a terrible uncle, one who made me feel guilty if I shed a single tear. It wasn't his problem, after all, to deal with "useless, human emotions". Nothing was his problem, and it was getting quite frustrating.

Dinner was silent and tense, and I left to find some peace elsewhere. In the midst of the forest, there was a small grove that I decided to stop in, and I tried to use my spirit energy to see again. What was going to happen? How was Keiryi involved? These were the questions I asked, and then the world became white with only seven figures. When those seven figures became clear, I gasped, and scrambled to go find Hiei.

"Hiei!" I shouted, hoping he'd hear me and come. Before I could even make it to our little campfire, he ran right into me, glaring down at me as I went crashing backward.

"What is it, Mikari?" he demanded coldly. "What on earth has made you panic this time?" He seemed genuinely angry at me and me alone.

"It was a vision!" I screamed. "Keiryi's going to die!"

"Shut up. How do you even know it's true."

"None of my visions have been wrong before!" I shouted at him, acting like a spoiled child. "If you don't want to believe them, then I'll go find someone who does!"

Without another word, I went dashing home, and Hiei let me go. He was following a couple hundred feet behind me, but I didn't care. It was time to go home, where I knew I would be loved. Then, I wouldn't have to deal with Hiei and his fierce temper. Dad and Hiro would be happy to have me back where I had always belonged.

Once I got to the walkway up to the front door, I saw a dark man standing there, waiting for me. His eyes were darker than anything I'd ever seen, and his hair was a rich, dark brown. "Who are you?" I asked, breathless. Though absolutely frightening, he was awesomely powerful the way he carried himself.

"Does it really matter, Mikari?" he said with a smirk. "Soon, I will have taken care of you, and you will get to be with your family in the underworld!"

My mind was scrambling for what to do, but my body reacted effortlessly. Every step he took, I was able to judge easily. Hiei was much faster and a lot trickier. I laughed softly and a streak of blue light shot out toward him. "Silly girl," he said, and drew a saber that was about four feet long. Almost twice my height, he loomed over me ominously.

"You never could keep yourself quite together," he said. "I've watched all of you, and you seem like the one who would crumble if left alone. Sadly, the weakest pawns must be removed first. Your mother was so trusting, and so deliciously afraid when we took her."

Eyes open wide, I stared at him in terror. This was the man who had killed my mother. This was the heartless murderer who had ripped apart my father's soul by eliminating his one true love. "She wasn't weak," I said darkly, "and neither am I..." Ice-blue lines blurred my vision, and ice covered the earth, lashed out at him. Everything was poured into my last ditch effort, and yet he kept walking.

"Looks like you just weren't strong enough," he said with a menacing laugh. "If you had been, you wouldn't be so ready to die."

On the edge of my little storm, Hiei stood helplessly. "You don't have me yet," I told the man before me. "I'm not dead." In my mind, I realized just how foolish I'd been to leave Hiei, who was willing to protect me, when we both knew a crisis was coming.

"Give up, little ice maiden," he said. "I am Fehreil, the rightful king of Makai. No one will challenge me once I have eliminated you and your friends!" He took me and touched my heart, tracing the outline of my breast, and then resting his hand in the small of my back. Everywhere his hand went, I felt dirty, as though the plague was sprouting up in those places.

"You can live if you come to my castle," he said with a seductive tone to his voice. "Then I will have the pleasure of seeing your beauty in full."

"Shut up!" I screamed in agony, and I felt my own power tearing me apart. Drunk on it, I took more, and then my body grew weaker, and I collapsed. Everything was fading, and he was gone.

Before my last few minutes were up, I saw Hiro and Dad standing there in shock. "I'm so sorry for leaving," I choked out, blood drizzling down my chin. "I love you...all of you."

"Don't be sorry, Mika," Hiro said, letting me rest against him. "It was all my fault. Please find it in your heart to forgive me for all I've done."

"I'll always love you, Mikari," Dad finished off. "My only regret will have been that I didn't get to see you grow up all the way."

A tiny, black-haired girl was there before me, smiling cordially with her celery-colored eyes. "It's time to go, Mikari," she said softly. "It's time to go home."

**A/N-Hi, all of you who are still reading my story. Sorry it's been a long time. I went on retreat for a while, and then I went to DC and the Outer Banks for vacation. Sadly, there's only two+ more weeks until I have to go back to school and probably write less. So, love to those who have reviewed recently, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it was kind of an aside, but I would've wanted to know what happened to Mikari in the end. **

**Peace, Love, and Peace Out,**

**Miari**


	18. Rhia

**Keiryi's POV**

Everything had been turned on its head. My father came back, but now he could be dead again for all I knew. Mother, who had always been my source of comfort, was so ill that she couldn't even get out of bed, and I was drowning in more confusion than I ever had. The headaches, the shifting, it had all started again. One moment, my hair was long and snow-white. Then it was a mixture of several shades of brown, then it was its usual thick red. My hands were changing in size, and I felt dizzy from all the change my body underwent in a mere hour.

Sitting there, in this enormous castle, I could feel the essence of those who had been here. So this was where my parents had met, hm? This was where they had met as demons, cold and ruthless creatures. Knowing this helped me comprehend why Mother could still love him. Though they'd both softened, they also had the demon inside them that needed to be suppressed. Such fierce, passionate love as theirs must have incurred their darker, more animalistic sides.

The walls here stared at me ferociously, daring me to try and break them down, to disobey everything my parents had told me. That was the feeling of this entire place...rebellion. In the midst of a world where humans and demons dealt with each other, my father had become a great thief instead, stealing his way to the top. And this place...In the midst of all the plants and earth that had attempted to cover it up, it stood strong as ever, a home waiting for its inhabitants to come back.

"Must have been lonely here," I said to myself, trying to break the silence. It was hard, when I had to talk to myself to do so.

"There used to be a lot more people here," a familiar voice said in the background. Dark in timber, I knew it from a time when fear had been my only emotion.

"Fehreil," I hissed, standing up to face him. After what he had tried to do to me, I was wishing I had worn a few more layers here.

"That's no way to treat a blood relative," he said sharply, and drew a saber that was still covered in blood.

"Remember the little ice maiden's daughter?" he said with a smirk.

"What did you do to Mikari!" I shouted, taking a step forward.

"This is all that's left of her," he stated deviously. "If you don't cooperate, you'll be the last to die. You and your father, dying together. Oh, but you'll be quite alone."

I gaped at his threats and tried to remember a technique my mother had taught me. Focusing my energy into the space before me, I thought, and a wave of thorns sprouted up.

"How pathetic," Fehreil said. "You children have no idea how to use your power. If you could only embrace the demon side of you, then you could be so much more powerful!"

My demon side was screaming to get out, but I was scared of letting her take control. Whenever I heard her in my head, she always sounded hungry, bloodthirsty, and ruthless. She would do anything to win, even hurting those I loved. "Can't you find someone else to have your kid instead of a blood relative?" I screamed. "Just die already!" That was when I folded over my consciousness, and I was stuck between my normal self and my demonic self...

_Glaring white light filled my vision as I tried to determine what to do. It wasn't what I saw while my eyes were open, though; it was what I saw while they were closed. A girl wandered out of that horrid, blood-streaked castle, her golden eyes full of life. Sure as a shot, she ran down to the forest I'd been in earlier, which wasn't very far away. Nothing there attacked her, and thorns sprouted up to form arches, welcoming her home._

_I followed, and before she was in the grove, the little girl turned to me and giggled. Her golden eyes sparkled, and her smile was infectious. "Do you want to come and meet...my Mommy?" she asked childishly. "She loves having company."_

_"What...what's your name?" I asked, shocked that she was talking to me like this. Most little kids I'd known had preferred to stay away from me, let alone carry on a conversation._

_"I'm Kaiina," she said. "At least, that's the name my father calls me by."_

_"Pleased to meet you, Kaiina," I said softly, and took her hand as she led me onward._

_The grove that we were headed toward was beautiful, and not quite so dark as it was in the present. Flowers pink, blue, red, and every other hue imaginable grew in this grove. Where trees now blocked the sun, it filtered in gently. "Such a place in Makai?" I said, confused. "But, I always thought Makai was dark, unforgiving."_

_"I am not of this world," a woman in the distance said with a smile. "With my power, I have forged this little pocket world. Fehreil's infiltration of the Plane of Luminescence was not complete."_

_She was beautiful, but in a different way than my mother. Her coloring and her structure barely mattered. It was the way in which she carried herself. Though not regal, she was confident of who she was, and she exuded the very essence of love and tenderness. Her words were as beautiful as any song, and her motions were graceful but efficient. Also, there was no sadness in her beauty, the one thing that had always kept my mother from shining her bright light._

_Before I could ask who this woman was, the little girl beamed up at me, and said, "This is my Mommy. She's the g-g-"_

_"I am Rhia, the guardian of this grove," the woman finished, laughing as she scooped the child up in her arms. My mother had never done that for me as far as I could remember. "And this is my daughter, Kaiina."_

_"Nice to meet you," I replied politely, feeling instantly at ease with this woman._

_"You are my daughter's child, are you not?" Rhia asked. "I have wanted to meet you for so long." Her warm, sincere smile was infectious, and soon I wore one too._

_"Yes," I replied. "My name is Keiryi. How is it that you and Fehreil had a child, ma'am? You two seem so...so.."_

_"Different?" Rhia finished._

_"Yes."_

_"Well, he deceived me, telling me that he loved me, and that he wanted me to be his queen. Honestly, it was nothing like the love your parents share."_

_"How did you know?" I asked. "If you knew they were together, why didn't you protect them?" Struggling not to lay all blame on this woman, I held it in, my rage and frustration._

_"I am confined here by the one who gave me this child," Rhia carried on, and for the first time, I could detect sadness in her voice. "I was only able to reach Kaiina on a couple occasions, and after that, I was unable to get through. Ever since you were born, she's tried so hard to forget,"--at this point, Rhia began to choke up, and so did I--"but she was haunted by a memory. That memory of when they were all happy, and they didn't have to work for it...it just was. Her pain and her anger erected such a strong wall that I was pushed away, and I never got to see you grow, to see the childhood I missed with my own little girl."_

_For the most part, the younger Kaiina had been still and quiet, but now she looked up at her mother, adorably confused. "But Mommy," she said softly. "You're here with me now, and we don't have to worry about Father. We can stay here. We can be happy here."_

_"Let Mommy finish her story," Rhia said, and looked back to me._

_"I am afraid that you cannot defeat Fehreil using the demonic side of you," she said. "You are human, so you fight for love. You are a demon, so you fight with unbeatable determination. And you are my descendant. Therefore, you fight with all the earth at your command. In order to defeat Fehreil, you must integrate these three parts of you. Don't let one take over the others, or you will not be strong enough." _

_I was about to walk away, and leave to fight my own battle, for my own mother, when Rhia called me, telling me to wait. "Remember one more thing, my child," she said. "Do not let your human side be lost. If you do, you have lost your one untainted motive. Demons fight for money, or power, which shifts at any time. I fought to protect the earth, which rebuilds itself in time. But you fight for love, to protect those who cannot be replaced. That is the beauty of being human. There is nothing more unselfish than laying down your life for the people who have loved you during its entire course. They are the ones who deserve your sacrifice the most. My child, if you defeat Fehreil, all those you know will be free. My spirit will be allowed to rest in Reikai without being confined to this dream world. Mikari could be the last casualty in this horrible war that is brewing. Use what you have, and search deep within. Only then will you be able to defeat Fehreil and save us all."_

_Kaiina came up and hugged me tenderly, smiling her beautiful smile at me. She was so healthy, so perfect. My mother, even when she was with my father, had always been somewhat undefed and worn out by all her problems. This little girl, though, enjoyed the full benefits of youth. Knowing that my mother had tried so hard to give me that fairytale childhood, I could only weep at how horrible she must have felt after failing. How horrible she must have felt when she learned that her own father was coming after us because of old promises she herself had made..._

When I opened my eyes, my tail twitched behind my back, and my ears were perked up, their golden tips moving ever so slightly. Black hair tumbled down to my waist, and I glared at my grandfather with the emerald eyes of he who had caused Fehreil so much misery and so much failure. "Let's finish this," I said, and that was the beginning of it all.

**A/N: Ha ha...cliffie. Evil. I know. The dream sequence was really fun, and I didn't want to show what happened in Ningenkai again too soon. You'll probably see next chapter though. Hope you like it enough to review, and 4-is-lovely, Yuki Amida, and all my other Midnight Rose fans, where are you! I have not yet abandoned you...come back! Oh, and thanks to Selena for the review!**

**Peace, Love, and Peace Out,**

**Miari**


	19. Determination

**Hiro's POV**

For hours, I could only stare at my sister's dead body. She hadn't been as strong as Keiryi, but she was no weakling either. Every moment we'd shared, all the love we'd held for each other, none of it had been able to bring her back sooner. Had she been struggling and unable to tell us? What if her bond with my Mom was so strong that she couldn't bear to live without it? Whatever the cause, I walked sullenly into the living room, and my father was inside looking at the paper.

"Why the sudden interest in the news?" I asked. "Don't we have enough going on around here?"

"I need to find a place for Mikari's funeral," Dad answered absently, turning the page. His eyes were focused ahead intently, and he was obviously set to ignore me. As that was the case, I walked upstairs to my room.

There were a lot of things I could have expected to find once I got up to my room, but Hiei was not one of them. Ever since Mom died, he hadn't come around at all. From what I heard, Hiei and my dad had a long-standing feud that they weren't quite willing to let go. "What are you here for?" I asked acidly, wanting to go to sleep and dream that my sister was still alive.

"Apparently you haven't been following what's been going on in Makai," Hiei stated flatly. "Keiryi is going to try and stop Fehreil on her own."

My eyes went wide as I heard that. Mikari had died attempting the exact same feat. "But that's how--"

"I know," Hiei snapped, cutting me short. "I'm only here to tell the facts. Make of it what you will."

"I want to help her," I said firmly, clenching one hand into a fist. "I can't let someone else die while I sit back and do nothing!" In the past years, I'd trained some, and after Keiryi was captured, my father taught me how to use the spirit sword.

"You'll just get yourself killed, baka," Hiei spat, and watched my blood rise to my head, turning my cheeks a dark red.

"If there's no one else left, then what does it matter!" I screamed back at him, my rage boiling over. It wasn't often that I got angry, but his indifference at Mikari's death was too much for me to take. The spirit sword was in my hands, and I flew at Hiei, the bright red energy flying through the air. He drew his sword and we went at each other fiercely. Every blow he threw at me, I was able to dodge, and eventually I was on the offensive rather than the defensive. He was pinned under my sword, sweat rolling down his face.

"How's that for weak?" I taunted spitefully. "I'm part demon, you know. I can fight."

"Don't speak so soon, child," Hiei said smugly, and then I was the one on the floor, the cold steel of his sword pressed hard against my neck. "You're young, and still inexperienced. How do you think you can help Keiryi?"

"I'll do what I can," I replied, getting up once our swords were put away. "I love Keiryi, and I don't want to watch her die."

"Maybe it's her destiny to die for all of us," Hiei said coldly. "Those two are an even match for each other, but I think Keiryi will win...if she can figure out how to use her power."

Fear replaced anger in my mind. So she could win...but only if she figured herself out first. That was always one thing she had seemed to fear. She never wanted to find out her own self, just everybody else. Back when we were kids, she didn't like answering questions about herself, and even while we were dating, she didn't share all that much of herself. I don't know what her problem was there, but I'd never bothered to ask or worry about it.

"How can I get to her?" I demanded of Hiei, wishing for once that he was a little more forgiving of my blind ignorance. "Maybe I can't fight Fehreil, but I can help."

"You'll only get in the way," Hiei stated glumly, "but if you really want to go, then you should go see Jakiri." Without bothering to bid my uncle farewell, my body went on autopilot and I came dashing down the stairs.

Dad didn't try to stop me from running down to Keiryi's house; he was too engrossed in everything that had happened. There didn't seem to be anybody there, though. Come to think of it, I had no idea who Jakiri was. Due to Keiryi's reluctance to talk about herself, I didn't know of any family friends by that name. Anyway, weren't we supposed to be some of the only friends Katie had left?

I knocked furiously on the door, wishing my stupid conscience would shut up about common courtesy. This was an emergency, and Keiryi's life hung in the balance. A woman answered the door, her mystical eyes shaded by dark circles of worry and age. "Is there a Jakiri here?" I asked hastily, and she sighed.

"Don't you kids get it?" she screamed at me angrily. "If you stayed out of your elders' business, you wouldn't be dying so young!"

Fighting back the tears that came with this reality, I put on a stony mask and stared at her. "I don't know who you are," I said, "but I'm ready to fight for something more important to me than the world itself. One of the only people I've cared about is going to die if I don't help her!"

"The girl is more powerful than you'll ever be," she said calmly, shaking her head. "Besides, you can't change fate. It's going to come out the same, even if you do something to prolong the end."

I knew it was true. What if I got there and she was already struck dead by her fiend of a grandfather? Even if I could do something to save her, there would be people after us again, and they would get her sooner or later. It didn't matter, though. I was going to save her, and I was going to hold her one more time before we both had to move on. That would have to be enough.

"I don't care," I answered, a little calmer now. "I want to see her again...while she's still alive."

"Jakiri can't get you to demon world right now, though," the woman said flatly, running a hand through her long, emerald hair. "She's holding off Kaiina. I can get you there, but it won't be as easy as it is for her."

"Just do it," I commanded, like some stony general. What the hell had I done with myself?

The swirling green portal swallowed me up and then blinked away, and I was tossed into a long corridor. I went down based on the fact that the stairs went down from where I was. And eventually, I saw that flash of vivid red hair go black, and those fierce jade eyes turn golden. "Keiryi!" I shouted, running toward her. And I stopped dead when I saw _him _in the corner.


	20. The Final Battle

**Keiryi's POV**

I saw Hiro standing in the doorway and froze, coming back to reality just soon enough to hear Fehreil speaking to me. "We'll settle this outside," he said. "I feel...constricted in this room." He flickered away and I turned toward Hiro. Our eyes met, and he knew that I was headed toward my death. I could tell that he knew as he took me in his arms, felt me as if I wouldn't be coming back.

"Don't worry if I don't come back," I told him softly, whispering in his ear. "I'll always be here with you." I wrapped both arms around his neck and we kissed lightly before I felt his tongue slide into my mouth. That was when it all went crazy. My hands went everywhere they could reach, and he took out my ponytail, burying his head in my hair.

"Are you afraid?" he asked, breathing in.

"No," I replied firmly, and slipped off his jacket.

"Then trust me," he urged, and I did. My demon side was laughing within.

I felt his hand cup one of my breasts, and then he kissed my neck, moving all the way down to the place where my shirt began. With my nod, he took it off and saw me with only a thin, black, skintight bikini top covering my upper half. Soon, I felt his tongue work along the outline of my breast where it was bare, and then we made love, simple as that.

As I got up and put my top back on, he rose with me, and we kissed one last time. "You know you can beat him," Hiro said. "You don't know half of what you can do." With a coy smile, I turned and walked away, walking toward the fight of my life, and what could end up being my death.

The long, winding corridors gave me time enough to think about my strategy. If I was going to beat my own grandfather, I would have to outsmart him _and_ overpower him. Inside, my energy flowed freely, and my entire body was itching for the thrill of a fight. Years ago, I would have been scared to face this, but all that had happened over the years had hardened me for this moment. I was going to beat Fehreil, and I was going to tear him to pieces for everything that he'd done to my family.

Outside, he was waiting for me, still handsome in his pitch black features. Now that I stopped to look at him, I saw a hint of gold in those dark eyes, as if it was the last flicker of sanity in him. "So you're finally going to fight your own battle," he smirked, approaching me slowly. "I thought I would allow you the pleasure of your lover before you die."

"I'm not going to run," I stated flatly, completely convinced. "Today, right here, this conflict ends. "Just promise me one thing."

"Whatever you wish, my queen," he replied, cocking an eyebrow in interest.

"If I lose, only punish me. Don't go after my family and friends any more."

With that, we flew at each other. By instinct, I soon found many of my powers, but it wasn't enough. Thorns encased him, but he managed to send a glowing ball of black matter at me. Every blow I sruck, he dodged. For a moment, I just stood there, watching him as he waited for me to resume. I could tell he wasn't taking it seriously. After all, I was nothing but a mere pup. Why was it worth the effort to actually fight me?

Fists clenched tightly, I charged him once more, but this time, I found myself tied up in bands I couldn't see. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't break them. "Before I kill you, let me show you what I can do," he taunted, and touched a hand to my forehead. My brain raced, and I could see it all. Mother was running through the streets, panting out her entire life. However, she was rampaging the streets, slaughtering the people who got in her way. Morphed into her demon form, I saw a villainous taint to those golden eyes that I'd never seen before, and never wanted to see again.

Hiro was running up the steps, trying to find me so that he could save me. Father slammed his fists into the doors of a room covered in crimson velvet in vain. Jakiri flew through the streets, trying to overcome my rampaging mother. It was all too much. Why did all this suffering have to occur in my lifetime? Why did I have to fight while other children only had to worry about remembering their homework? Was I supposed to be happy that I was so special? "You only delight in their pain because you're so empty," I hissed, baring my fangs.

Fehreil laughed dryly and drew one long, sharp fingernail across my forehead. It formed a single line that curved and swirled about my forehead until it comprised a large, intricate pattern. "Just try and defeat me now," he boasted, his dark eyes laughing at me in their cruelty. Blood burned off of my skin where he had drawn the pattern.

"I know I can defeat you," I spat, "because I have so much more behind me."

Rhia's words rang in my mind: "There is nothing more unselfish than laying down your life for the people who have loved you during its entire course. They are the ones who deserve your sacrifice the most." If I defeated Fehreil, even if it cost me my life, my family and friends would be able to live as before...happily ever after.

"It's time for you to die!" I screamed, and Fehreil backed away a couple steps, laughing. "I was hoping you'd say that my queen. For once you are dead, I can raise you as mine. Your body will belong to me." He smiled, and I closed my eyes, calling up a mass of blood-red streaks that flashed across my body. They cast an eerie red glow over my skin, and I felt them clothing me anew. I wore a tight, black dress that dipped down to show a considerable amount of cleavage. Black velvet gloves covered my hands, and I tied my hair up in a high ponytail, glad to have it out of my face.

Within, the animal instincts I had raged furiously. They told me that I could rip him to shreds if I wanted to. I could show him the same pain I had felt for so long because he had my father killed. "Fehreil, the Midnight Wolf," I hissed. Honestly, I didn't know where the name came from, but it was there. "You held court in Makai for too long. Now I'll put an end to this."

"Let's see those powers of yours, then," he taunted. "I want to see what my little girl can do."

Red light slashed at him as I came running forward, conjuring up a fistful of black shuriken. They flew true, but Fehreil dodged and raised his hand, darkness coming over the entire place. I stood there, lost and alone for the most part. His laugh resounded in my head as I tried to remember the calm I had felt when with Rhia, instead of the panic I felt then. "Show your face, coward!" I taunted, hoping to bring him out into the open.

"If you can't see in the darkness, then you haven't mastered yourself at all," Fehreil said softly. "You were going to be such a beautiful creature, but it's worthless if you're powerless." I sent small bolts of energy flying in all directions, and even though I didn't hit anything, I saw one illuminate a dark eye. My feet barely touched the ground as I charged and plunged a sword into his throat, crafted of pure spirit energy and then hardening into a real steel.

As my blade slid into his chest, I felt something blossom in my forehead, tearing my mind apart. It was Fehreil's seal. Even if he was dead, my fate had been sealed, and I'd accomplished what I came to do. For the last time, I felt myself drift into that plane where I'd found my grandmother, the one who had gotten me through that fight...

_"Now Keiryi can play with us, Mommy," the little girl said with a playful smile. "She's finally going to stay with us."_

_"That's right, Kaiina," Rhia replied, giving her daughter that warm, sincere smile. The two of them were sitting in Hell's Grove, but it was no longer dark. Flowers sprouted, and mosses climbed up the dark, looming trees._

_"You've freed us," Rhia said, "thank you so much. Now we can wander as we please, and take back this world. If you wish, you may come with us."_

_"Please come, Keiryi," Kaiina urged, and clung to my hand with her smaller one, her golden eyes staring up at me._

Before I could answer the little child, I felt my spirit being ripped away from my body, and I found myself in a large office, with a toddler in front of me. He appeared to be having a rather bad day from the squint to his eyes. "So, you're Keiryi," he said in a business-like tone. "I've been wanting to speak with you."

"Who are you?" I asked him, quirking an eyebrow in curiosity.

"I am Prince Koenma," he replied, and we shook hands.

I was still lost as to why he wanted me in this office rather than the regular spirit world. "Why _did_ you bring me here?" I asked politely. "Rhia was going to let me stay with her."

"I want you to become a guardian," he answered, as if that was the answer to any other questions I might have.

"What does that entail?"

"I saw your spirit out there, Keiryi," Koenma said. "You have a gift of putting others before yourself, so I want you to become a guardian. You follow someone around and tell them what to do so that bad stuff doesn't happen to them."

Even though there were still a lot of questions to be asked, I nodded, accepting the job. However, there was one last, obvious question that I just couldn't resist.

"Who am I going to guard?" I asked.

"I have someone in mind," Koenma replied with a smile. "Someone by the name of Hiro Kuwabara."

**A/N: Well, so ends Keiryi. Took a long while to get here, but there's just one more chapter before I have to watch _The Midnight Rose_ sail off into the West. If anyone's still reading this, you'll be sad about it. I had some very ecstatic reviews when this story began as nothing more than another Kurama love story. Then it grew,and I had my own universe, where the OC's outnumber the canon characters. Hopefully, you have all loved this series as much as I have while writing it. I've made people curse at me for things that have happened(coughKurama dyingcough) and I've also made peopel cry buckets. My best friend cried when Kura-chan died in MR1. Because it was just too sad for me, I had to bring him back for MR2. So, brace yourselves for my farewell chapter.**

**Peace, Love, and Peace OUT,**

**Miari**


	21. Epilogue: The Reunion

**Katie's POV**

_Lirra smiled at me mercilessly, her blue eyes shouting at me that I was nothing more than a pathetic failure. I couldn't save my lover, and I couldn't even save my own daughter. Why not just impale myself on one of those crystalline blades? It would be the easy way out, and I would finally be able to rest in peace._

_Then I saw Keiryi's face smiling at me, telling me to come back home to her. Tears ran down my face at the thought that I wanted to give in and leave everybody to mourn me as I had Kurama. Was that fair to my friends? Did I want to make them bawl before my coffin? "That's right," Lirra said smoothly, her blue eyes lighting up with confidence. That blade flew at me as her white wings propelled her forward._

_"No!" I breathed. "You fooled me the first time, but I will kill you, once and for all!"_

_In the back of the cathedral, I saw Kurama holding Keiryi's hand, waiting for me. My saber plunged itself deep into Lirra's chest, and thorns sprouted, encasing her in what seemed to be a miniature forest. "You really are his daughter," she said while her head was still exposed. "You've won, and now I bid you farewell..."_

When I woke up, I saw a pair of emerald eyes staring down at me, framed by a mane of vivid red hair. "Keiryi?" I whispered weakly, feeling a weight set in in my chest. Whatever I did while asleep, it had exhausted me entirely.

"Glad to see you're awake," a light, liquid voice said. "That's the good news."

"Good news?" I said hurriedly. "What do you mean? What happened while I was asleep.

"Yuki and I had to tie you down, and then you were just...better," Jakiri said, stepping forward to kneel beside my bed. "And then he showed up, but you were in too much pain to notice."

"What's going on?" I demanded, looking around at the people gathered there. They all looked so tired, so completely worn out.

Suddenly, I was looking into those emerald eyes, and my own went wide in shock. The strong arms I'd only dreamed about before were wrapped around me, and I smelled the sweet scent of roses in that mane of red hair. I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight, hoping and praying that he wasn't a vapor this time, that he really was there. "How did you get back here?" I asked, holding back tears of joy.

"Keiryi brought me back," he replied. "She brought me back so she could see you feeling as happy as you looked in all those pictures."

He kissed me like he did when we rolled around on the floor of his mansion. He touched me and made me feel perfect again. For the first time since Keiryi's birth, I was truly happy, and it made me want to live as I hadn't been living for the past nineteen years. "I love you," I whispered, and everyone around us smiled. Even Yusuke was there, and he had finally accepted the fact that my heart had belonged to Kurama and it always would.

However, not everything had turned out alright. Hiro walked in the door after a few hours, and we could all tell that something was wrong. His crimson eyes were glossy with tears, and his hands, usually so animated to complement his speech, hung limp at his sides. "Were you able to save her?" Hiei asked, who had entered from the back. Something inside Hiro snapped with those words.

"I did all I could," he said, shaking with rage. "Just lay off, Hiei." His eyes were almost cold enough to match his uncle's as the two of them stared at each other.

"You went into that death-trap!" Kazuma shouted. "You could have been killed! Don't you understand that?"

"Who were we trying to save?" I stammered, dreading the answer. There were only two people left who had yet to show up.

Kurama wrapped his arm around my shoulders and Jakiri and Hiro exchanged glances. "Explain, Jakiri," I choked. In my heart, I had already predicted what the answer would be. Hiro averted his eyes, and Yuki, who was standing against a wall, sighed heavily, more so than she ever had.

"Keiryi," the healer stated. "Your daughter and Kurama went to Makai, and she..."

"She killed Fehreil," Jakiri finished, scared to tell what the bad news would be.

"Fehreil killed her, though," Hiro stated dryly.

I felt it driving home, and my composure, my happiness, all of it melted away. My only child had been lost, and I couldn't even find her body to hold one last time. Tears flowed freely, and everyone gathered around me. They reached out to touch me, but I was lost in my own world. How could Keiryi be gone? How could I have let that happen?

Threee months later, I was beginning to cope with things. Kurama helped me get through a lot of it, but I also found things about myself that helped. All those years, I'd been able to survive as the sole parent, and I never realized just how much strength that took. After a couple more months, we were having our wedding, and it was the most beautiful thing I could have imagined.

We held it on the cliff above the pool where I'd first found him. All of our friends were there, and Kurama looked absolutely perfect in his black tuxedo. My dress was a billowy, white gown with a lot of layers, and I felt like I was flying as I took that walk down the aisle. The ceremony took a very short time, and by the end, we were all brimming with joy.

"Congratulations, Katie!" Kazuma shouted, running up to give me a hug. Even if he'd grown up over the years, he was still just a big kid inside. Hiro was dressed in black also, and the brightness had returned to his eyes a little bit.

"Congrats, Katie," he said in a more reserved manner. "I think Keiryi's smiling down on you guys as we speak."

"I think you might be right," Kurama replied. "Thank you."

Jakiri had her blonde hair down, and she wore a long, red dress with sequins on the bodice. "It took you two enough time to get here," she smiled, and Sakore grinned, not ready to reveal himself quite yet.

"I'm just glad we're alive and well," I answered, and Kurama drew me closer to him playfully. Jakiri and Sakore looked at us, and I saw a mischievous look in their eyes. "What are you up to now, Jakiri?" I demanded.

"We're going to have a baby," she said. "We're finally going to settle down."

"That brings me to an important order of business," I said. "Jakiri, you've done a lot for me over the years, from the first time we met up until now. You're free to live your own life instead of trying to follow me everywhere." Her blue eyes lit up as she smiled, and we embraced happily.

"Thank you, Kaiina," she said, "thank you so much."

"We really appreciate this," Sakore said genuinely, and shook my hand with a smile.

Other people congratulated us, but when almost everyone was gone, Yusuke came up to the two of us, looking like a nervous wreck. "Glad to see you two lovebirds back together," he began. "Katie, I..."

"What is it?" I asked, looking into his dark eyes.

"I just want to say that I'm sorry for being such an ass. I shouldn't have gone after you while you were still getting over it, and-" I kissed him briefly on the cheek and winked.

"I'm over it now, but thank you for the apology," I replied. "Keep in touch, okay?"

"Okay," he said, and gave me one last hug before I walked home with Kurama.

We sat on the floor in the room that was covered in pictures of us. His arm was around my shoulders, and his hand caressed my upper arm gently. "I only wish Keiryi could be here," I admitted, looking around and then into his emerald eyes. "She would have loved to have a father to grow up with."

"There's nothing you can do to prevent destiny," he replied, and kissed me gently on the lips, resting his forehead against mine. "She wanted to come, and I knew that if I didn't let her, she'd find a way. After all, she's just like her mother."

With a soft giggle, I wrapped my arms around his neck and let his tongue slip into my mouth, reveling in the comfort he gave me. A hand slipped up to cup my breast, making my back stiffen, and I stared at him. "I knew you'd come back someday," I said softly, stroking his face as he slipped my shirt off.

"I wanted to be with you so badly when I was there," he answered. "They locked me in a very dark room, and all I could see was you in that little girl who came for comfort." I lay on my back, gazing up at him, and he ran a hand across my bared stomach, making every cell rise to his touch. One hand rested on my hip as he kissed my passionately, rising and falling with the motions of my hips.

And at that time, I knew that wherever she was, Keiryi was going to be happy. Just as I had, she found love, and that was probably what she needed to do most in her life. Right then, I could feel her smiling down on me, glad that her beloved mother was happy once more.

**A/N: So ends the Midnight Rose. Now I have to find another project. Crap. Oh well, as I said before, this was a load of fun to write, and I'm very happy with my ending. Everybody's getting too old for me to continue this, so I'll have to think up a whole new alternate universe of Yu Yu Hakusho. Keiryi was probably my fave character to write, and my favorite moment in the entire story is when Katie and Kurama are reunited. You have no idea how long I had to restrain myself from just making it happen. Once it did, though, I was glad I waited. Thanks to those fans I kept, and I hope to hear from you again some other time!**

**Peace, Love, and Peace OUT!**

**Miari**


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